Replay: Slow Motion
by Roguechere
Summary: Romy & Rietro. Pietro makes a discovery about Rogue's powers and Gambit shows up in Bayville. A story where your friend and your enemy can be one in the same. COMPLETE!
1. Replay: Slow Motion

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the X-Men. (Or do I?)

Replay: Slow Motion

Pietro couldn't take it any longer. He was getting nowhere. All he needed to do was go from his chemistry class on the main floor to his english class in the basement. This should take a normal person two minutes at the most. It should only take Quicksilver TWO SECONDS at the most. Apparently the gossiping girls and the macho dimwits of Bayville had better things to do than get to class though.

Twenty girls stood in the middle of the hallway talking about nail polish and perfume fragrances. A couple of football players were tossing a ball across the hallway to one another. A girl ran into Pietro chasing some guy down the hallway. '_How immature'_ he thought to himself.

Trying to maneuver his way through the crowd, Pietro walked into a couple making out by the lockers. **'**_This is absolutely infuriating!'_It was hard enough to move at a normal pace (which took great self-restraint on his part) but this was agony. He felt like he was treading through waist high quicksand. _'COME ON PEOPLE MOVE!'_he shouted in his head. As soon as he saw a clearing in the crowd – he was gone.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Rogue could not stand being in the hallway with all of these people. Hardly any of them ever paid attention to where they were walking or what they were doing. A group of girls all huddled around giving each other beauty tips. A few glanced at Rogue giving her dirty looks. _'Like Ah care!'_she thought shooting daggers back at them.

The captain of the football team was tossing a ball to the quarterback. Only he over-shot and the receiver started running backwards headed straight for her. Rogue moved out of the way just in time and the catcher ran into a locker. "Watch where ya are goin' next time" she said coldly and continued making her way down the hall.

She tried to avoid as many people as possible and went to go around a large group of people when she almost ran into a couple making out. Her anger was quickly replaced with sadness. _'Wow'_ she thought. Maybe she had been staring, because the two parted lips and the girl looked right at Rogue.

"Got a problem?" she asked annoyance clear in her voice.

"No…sorry. Sorry" she said, embarrassment flushing her cheeks. She walked away quickly, hoping no one would notice the tears starting to form in her eyes. _'Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.'_She repeated. Hot tears slid down her cheeks. She removed one of her gloves to wipe the tears from her face and turned to go into her english class when someone ran into her.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"HAY!" she said angrily. "Watch it!"

"WhoopssorryRogueyRoo" Pietro said skidding to a halt. Something seemed… odd to Pietro just then but he chose to ignore it.

"Ya betta be."

"I said I was sorry. YEESH!"

"Well whateva." she said facing the opposite direction, wiping away her tears. She meant to do it discreetly so that Pietro would not notice but to him her movements were slow. He moved a little closer to see if she was all right when she turned around, dropping her hands to her sides. The two now being very close in proximity made Rogue a bit nervous. She was both excited and scared by their closeness. It was not often that someone would willingly stand this close to her, and especially not ones that were quite as good looking. She looked up into his eyes and felt like she could drown. Then quickly looked away after thinking that way about an enemy of the X-Men. Pietro had caught her staring and smirked.

"You alright?" he asked, half jokingly, half-serious. She let out a sigh.

"Ya Ahm fine." she said using her hand in a dismissive movement and walked into the classroom. Leaving a very confused Pietro out in the hallway. **'**_Well I wonder what's up with her. That girl doesn't even know her own strength! It hurt when she whapped me with her hand just now.'_ He tried to nurse his hand back to health, rubbing it gently when something occurred to him. What had been awkward about her hitting him again? Something had seemed…he peered at the figure of the girl in the classroom, his eyes dropping down to her hips, jaw dropping. _'That's what it had been!'_ he realized upon seeing her un-gloved hand.

She had touched him.

TBC>


	2. SlowMo2

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 2

Rogue took her usual spot at the back of the room and sat down. "Oh Ah almost forgot,"she thought aloud looking down at the glove still in her hand and put it back on. She then looked up and noticed Pietro had entered the room and that he was staring at her most peculiarly. She felt awkward under his gaze and looked in the opposite direction, only to find herself face to face with him in a matter of seconds.

"Roguey, whendidyoulearntocontrolyourpowers?"

"Say wha?" she questioned, not necessarily confused by his fast speech but rather the question itself.

"Howcanyoucontrolyourpowers?"

"Maximoff, slow down. Ya ain't makin a lick a sense."

"Howandwhendidyoulearntocontrolyourabsorbtionpowers?" Rogue tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow at this. _'What's he playin' at?'_she wondered and then sighed.

"Ah don't have control of mah powers Speedy." Now it was Pietro's turn to look confused.

"Then how did you touch me just now in the hallway?"

What are ya talkin about?"

"You slapped me with your bare hand in the hallway."

"No Ah didn't.''

"Yes you did. You had your glove off and you hit my hand with yours." Rogue looked down at her now gloved hand. _'Did Ah….No. That's impossible.'_She shook the thought from her head.

"Ah don't know what ya are up to Pietro, but Ah don't like it."

"I'm not up to anything." He replied looking hurt. _'He seems sincere enough' _she thought while observing him.

"Pietro, Ah don't have control of mah powers," she said saddened, "no matter how much Ah wish that weren't true." Her head flopped down and she stared at the desk. _'She doesn't believe me' _herealized _'and she looks so sad.' _Pietro looked down at her sympathetically then shook his head. 'Since when do I care about Mrs. Anti-Social?!?!'he questioned himself. He couldn't stop himself from feeling sorry for her. He wanted her to believe him.

"Touch me." he said, not much louder than a whisper.

"Excuse meh?" she said looking up into his eyes and saw them filled with something she never thought she'd see in them.

"Touchme." he said slower. "If you don't believe me, touch me." Now he was the one becoming lost in the gaze of her eyes.

"Ya're crazay." she stated looking away. Like before, he zoomed over to the other side of her and the two were once again face to face.

"No Rogue. You touched me out there, even if it was for the briefest of moments and nothing happened. You may not believe me, but I know you did. Touch me and find out."

"Ah could kill ya."

"That's ridiculous. If something DOES happen then you can pull away." he said and Rogue could see the sincerity in his features and by the way he was talking. _'He actually thinks that Ah can touch him?' _

"Ah…ah don't know Speedy…" she said hesitantly. Uncertain of whether or not to believe him. Whether or not to take the risk. Whether or not she was setting herself up for disappointment.

"Well I do…" he said reassuringly and took her hand in his and began to remove her glove. He seemed so sure. So genuine. Rogue made up her mind.

"…Alraght." she breathed. Once he had completely removed the glove they sat there just staring at one another. Finally, Rogue brought up her hand to reach out to the speed demon, who leaned closer to her. Only inches away, both took a big breath, Pietro closing his eyes. _'This is it.'_she thought. _'The moment of truth….'_

The two jumped at the sudden sounding of the bell, and their gaze went to the door where both Lance and Scott were walking in.

"Watch it Summers." Lance said threateningly.

"Watch yourself." he replied then looked up to see Rogue sitting at the back of the room. "Hey Rogue."

"Hi ya Scott." she said, not knowing how he would react to how close her and Pietro were at the moment.

"Sup Lance?" Looking up she saw that Quicksilver had made his way to his desk at the OPPOSITE end of the room from her. He gave her a short sideways glance, and then returned his attention to Lance.

"How's it going?" Scott asked sitting in the seat in front of Rogue.

"Ah don't know…" she replied softly, folding her arms and letting her head rest atop the desk.

TBC>


	3. SlowMo3

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 3

The rest of the day was one big blur to Rogue. She did not recall anything taught in class or any of the idle gossip Risty had shared with her. She did not even remember if she had eaten or not. _'Damn it Pietro, what are ya doin ta meh?'_She went and grabbed her bag from her locker before leaving the school. Making her way down the front steps, she caught a brief glimpse of the brotherhood out the corner of her eye. The four of them were headed towards their jeep and she went to make her way over there when someone called out to her.

"Rogue!"

"Oh…hay Risty…" she turned back around only to see the jeep speeding off. "Damn." she muttered.

"What's the matter girlfriend?" Risty asked looking in the same direction as Rogue.

"Nuthin'."

"If you say so. Wanna do something?"

"Ah don know Risty. Ah don really feel like doin' anythang. Ah think Ah'm jus gonna go home."

"I'll catch ya later then party pooper!" she said with a wave of her hand and left.

'_Maybe Ah should go and see Pietro.' _Rogue wondered, already headed in the direction the vehicle had gone. This was gonna bug her until she talked to him, so she picked up the pace and began a light jog. Not really paying attention she ran out onto the street, a car managing to stop inches from hitting her.

"Rogue? Watch where you're going!" Jean yelled from the red convertible.

"Huh? Oh sorry guys." she said looking back and seeing the rest of the X-Men in the car.

"Do you want a ride home?" Scott called to her as she started running again.

"No thanks Scott. Catch ya all later!"

"Oh. Okay." he said giving her one last glance and then driving away.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She had been running for awhile now and was only about two blocks away. _'Almost there'_ she told herself. Then, the realization hit her. '_And what am Ah gonna say when Ah get there? Can Ah touch ya now? Thas jus dumb!' _So caught up in her thoughts was she that she did not see the person rounding the corner at the same time as her. The two ran smack dab into one another.

"Hey watch where ya are goin'!" she said rubbing her elbow. _'What's with everyone taday?'_

"You're da one dat…" he stood up and rubbed his butt then looked down at the person he had run into. _'Oh a femme' _he smiled deviouslyI apologize Cherie." Rogue felt an in-voluntary shiver running down her spine. _'Sexay accent.' _The sight standing before her took her breath away. _'WOW.'_ Standing before her was a man, maybe six feet tall, wearing a long brown trench coat over a tight black muscle t, dark brown hair that hung a little over his eyes…and his eyes….

"Stop right there mutie!" a voice boomed from down the street.

"Uh oh" the two said in unison. The guy leaned down and offered his hand to Rogue, which she took. Then pushing her behind him, he spoke over his shoulder. "Get out of here Cherie…it's about to get ugly." Rogue noticed him reach into his pocket and pull out a card. _'This guy must be crazay' _she thoughtand stepped out beside him. Cracking her knuckles she replied,

"Good. Ah like ugly."

"Gurl, didn't you hear me- I said go. Dis ain't no place for a lady." he said slightly irritated. _'Oh brother' _she thought rolling her eyes.

"Ya. Ya. Ah heard ya." she said, putting herself into a fighting stance. Then looking at him she added "and Ah ain't no lady." She then turned her attention to the fast approaching mob.

"Ma'am, I suggest you move away from him, he's very dangerous."

"Dat I am…." he replied eyes blazing; a warm glow began to envelop the card in his hand.

"And how's that?" she asked innocently, dropping her stance momentarily.

'He's a mutant!" a man yelled from the back of the crowd.

"Is that so…" apparent shock made its way to her face "well it just so happens..." she leapt up on one leg and used the other one in flying roundhouse style, hitting the man squarely across the jaw "Ah'm adangerous mutant too." The man dropped to the ground as they both looked at each other in complete disgust. Two men stepped forward and tried to grab Rogue.

"You're gonna pay for that bitch!"

"Nuh uh uh," the male mutant said waving his finger disapprovingly at the two "dats no way to treat a femme." He threw a glowing pink card at them. Upon contact the two men blew away in opposite directions. He then turned to Rogue and gave her a satisfied smirked, receiving a smirk in return. Suddenly he was tackled to the ground. Rogue went to go pull the man off the handsome Cajun when she was pulled away by two strong pairs of arms.

"Get offa meh!" she demanded.

"Or you'll what?" they laughed.

"Or ah might jus hafta kiss ya…" she said, venom dropping with each word.

"You ain't touching me freak." one of them replied.

"That's what ya all think" she replied, twisting and turning out of their grasp she quickly removed her gloves. "Bring it on boys." One went to jump her, but she caught him mid-air by the wrist and slammed him to the ground. The other man stood with his mouth wide open.

"What the hell did you do to him?"

"He needed a time out." she said looking down at the now unconscious man. When she looked back up, the other guy was already heading towards her and punched her right in the stomach. She slumped over slightly, the man raising his hands to hit her again, when a glowing object flew and hit him in the face. She turned to see the mutant who had just finished delivering a blow to one of his attackers, his other hand still outstretched as if to throw another card. "Thanks." she mouthed. He ran over to her.

"You alright?" he asked concern evident in his features.

"Neva better." and she managed to fake a smile.

"DIE!" one of the mob members screamed, raising a gun. Rogue pushed Remy down just as a bullet flew past them.

"Time to go chere." He offered his hand again but her hands were un-covered. She shook her head and pushed herself up. '_What's wit dat?' _he wondered but didn't have time to think further on the subject as the sound of another bullet was heard. The two ran at full speed turning the corner and running down the street. The sound of more gun fire prompting them on. She could hear the angry footsteps coming from behind them. _'Why'd Ah have ta do all a that runnin before?' _she asked herself angrily but continued running all the same. The man turned at the next corner and she followed. _'Ah wonder if he knows where he's goin'?'_

He turned around grabbed her by the arm and led her down an alley when he suddenly stopped. _'Guess not'_ she realized when they reached what appeared to be a dead end.

"Up."

"Huh?" she asked.

"Up." he said again pointing up to a fire escape.

"But how am ah…." She didn't even have time to finish before he began hoisting her up.

"Oh…" she replied, grabbing onto the railing.

"Nice view." he stated with a big smile on his face. As she finished pulling herself up, he leapt up onto the fire escape.

"Impressive." she said, not sounding impressed.

"I'm a man of many hidden talents." and the two continued up to the roof.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

They had been sitting up on the roof in silence for nearly twenty minutes. When they got up there, Rogue had propped herself up against some walling; only now fully realizing just how tired she was. The man remained peering out over the roof the entire time, never changing his position. When the silence had finally become uncomfortable, she decided to speak.

"They gone?" she asked.

"Been gone awhile now chere." he replied pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Then what the hell are we still doin' up here?" she asked confused.

"What you don't like my company?" he asked, facing her for the first time since they got up there.

"Hmph. Ah don even know ya name." she replied folding her arms and looking away.

"They call me Gambit." he replied sauntering towards her, using that oh-so-sexy accent of his. "But you, you can call me Remy." He went to pick up her hand and place a kiss on it but she pulled away. With all the excitement she had forgotten to put her gloves back on. She grabbed them and threw them on, embarrassed. "I don't bite." he told her pulling his hand away.

"No, no, it ain't that." she said.

"Then what?

"Well you see, its mah….mutation." she said quietly, facing the opposite direction, not able to look at him. " More like mah curse. Mah skin…it's deadly. All Ah have to do is touch someone and Ah absorb their memories, their powers…sometimes their very soul." She wasn't even talking to him anymore, just talking aloud.

"Don you have any control of it?" he asked, curious.

"No." she said, dropping her head. He eased himself down beside her.

"Maybe all you need is a little practice." Rogue let out a bitter laugh.

"Ha. Ya, well volunteers aren't exactly easy ta come by sugah."

"Why don you practice on me?" he asked. She looked up at his face and saw the mischief in it.

"Aren't ya afraid? Ah might hurt ya." she asked confused.

"I think, maybe it be worth it, non?" They both sat there looking at one another. _'He's so beautiful' _she thought. _'She be an angel' _he thought. _'Well if he's willingly ta let meh touch him. No. Ah don't want ta hurt him…but what if Pietro's right? He seemed to be telling the truth, and Ah wanna kiss him so bad.' _She tried to convince herself it was okay. _'I'm gonna kiss her'_ he thought, and moved his face closer to hers. _'It'll be okay, it'll be okay…' _she continued to tell herself as their lips met. _'This is wonderful'_ she thought _'Speedy was tellin' the truth!'_she realized, never having been happier in her life. _'She tastes like strawberries'_he thought before suddenly feeling a tug. _'OH NO!' _Rogue thought, but it was too late, and he fell limp in her arms.

"Ah'm so sorry." she said cradling his head in her lap. "So sorry…"

TBC>


	4. SlowMo4

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 4

Rogue was overwhelmed with emotions and she wasn't sure which one was currently the strongest. Concern- for the mutant Remy who now lay unconscious in her arms. Disappointment- in herself for being so stupid. Anger- at Pietro for tricking her. Not to mention the undeniable loss of hope she felt. For one glorious moment she thought fate had given her a break. Looking down at Remy she realized she should take him somewhere. He would recover; the contact had not lasted long, but he would be unconscious for awhile. '_Ah'll__take him back to the mansion.'_ Rogue picked him up. '_But if Ah do that, then Ah'll have ta explain ta the proffesa what happened….' _Maybe she was being a little selfish - but if Logan were to find out that the guy had been trying to make the moves on her, he would not be recovering anytime soon. So she re-thought where she could take him. '_Not the hospital, not all doctors are mutant friendly.'_She looked back down at him. '_Ah'd take ya to your home sugh…if Ah knew where that was.'_she added. Running out of options she decided. '_Well, tha Brotherhood ain't too far from here. Besides… Ah've got a bone ta pick with a__certain speed demon.' _

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Thump Thump Thump

Thump Thump Thump

"Todd knock it off already!" Lance shouted from the living room.

Thump Thump Thump

"I ain't doing nuthin yo!" he called as he continued leaping all over the place.

"KnockitoffbeforeIcomeinthereandmakeyou." threatened Pietro.

"Huh? What was that? Didn't hear you – yo!" The thumping became louder.

"He said…" Todd was grabbed by the collar of his shirt, "knock it off." The Blob kept his grip on his far too energetic teammate while chowing down on a foot long sandwich in his other hand.

"Thanks Blob."

The thumping started again.

"TODD!"

"What? It ain't me yo!" an innocent Todd said. "Someone's at the door."

"No one ever visits the Brotherhood." As soon as the words left Lance's mouth a gust of wind rushed past him followed by what sounded like an "I'llgetit." Pietro opened the door.

"Roguey?" he questioned. Surprised to see her there and curious about who was with her. Rogue's fist promptly hit him in the face. "What the hell was that for??!" he asked. By now, the rest of the brotherhood had made their way over to the door.

"Ya know damn well Maximoff!" she exclaimed stepping in the door.

"Hey Rogue - what's up?" Lance asked.

"Ah need your help Lance." she started.

"Yousurehaveafunnywayofaskingforit." Pietro received a death glare from Rogue. _'WhatdidIdo?' _he wondered. _'She's right pissed. Guess maybe I shouldn't have just taken off after class…and who's that guy she's with??!!'_

"His name's Remy," she said looking down at the man in her arms "he needs a place to stay and recover…"

"And why should we help him yo?"

"Cuz he's a mutant and he's hurt!" she yelled, furious that they would even have to ask. She then turned to Lance, who she always found to be the most level headed and compassionate of the group. "We got attacked by a mob a couple a blocks down…"

"Areyouokay?" The question slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. _'Where did that come from?'_

"Fahne." she replied coldly. "So can Remy stay here or not?"

"Hmph. What's wrong with the institute?" snorted Blob. Rogue sighed.

"Look, you guys were closer okay…" she said looking away.

"It's alright Rogue. He can stay." Lance answered.

"WHAT?!?!" came the voices of the three other Brotherhood members.

"Look we're the Brotherhood of Mutants, and that means, we take care of our own." Lance said taking Remy from Rogue who gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem Rogue." He carried the mutant into the living room and placed him on the couch. Freddy lost interest and turned his attention back to his sandwich.

"Sweet. FREEDOM!" yelled Todd who began leaping up the stairs. Only Pietro was left in the hallway with Rogue whose gaze hadn't left the mutant lying on the couch.

"So how'd he get hurt?" Quicksilver asked arms folded.

"Ah'll tell ya how he got hurt!" she said, anger apparent in her tone. "Ya lied ta meh!"

"But I…"

"Save it Maximoff!! Ah don wanna hear it!" and she turned and walked out the door. Before she could make it out of the yard though, Pietro had caught up to her.

"Rogue wait! What do you mean I lied to you? What happened?" she hated what he was doing right now. He was acting concerned again. It almost made her feel bad.

"Ya told me Ah could touch people…" _'Huh? But she can. Why is she mad about this…?'_

"Didhetouchyou?" he asked. Rogue didn't reply and avoided eye contact. "He did, didn't he!?" _'Is he angry?'_

"That ain't the point…"

"Didhehurtyou? Becauseifhedid..."

"No Pietro. YOU hurt meh." she was getting annoyed and angry. _'This "I care" routine is getting old'_she thought. Pietro looked hurt.

"What did I do?" he asked slowly.

"Ya lied ta meh. And Ah'm sick of having to repeat mahself. If ya hadn't told meh that Ah could touch we never would have kissed and…" Pietro did not hear the rest of what she said after that. _'KISSED? KISSED!? He kissed her?!?!?' _His thoughts wandered, picturing that guy and what he might have been trying to do. Rogue noticed that he was no longer listening and sighed. "Ya don't even care do ya?" she asked him.

"Sorrywhat?"

"Look, Ah don't know why ya lied ta meh, and Ah don't rightfully care." she said sounding defeated. "All Ah really care about is that Remy's okay. So regardless of what ya think of meh, or what your grudge against meh is…take care of him alright?"

"But Roguey…"

"Please?" she looked up at him with pleading eyes. Eyes that looked like they were about to fill with tears.

"Okay." he said, watching her already start to walk away.

"…Thanks…" and then she was gone. She was upset with him, and it actually hurt. And she was upset because that guy had kissed her. Making a fist Pietro thought _'I'll take care of him all right…'_and made his way back into the house.

TBC>


	5. SlowMo5

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 5

Remy thought he felt a cool breeze wash over him but kept his eyes closed trying to assess his current situation and location. _I'm lyin' on sometin' soft….a bed? Dis chere don' waste any time_ he chuckled inwardly to himself. _But I don' sense her nowhere. Where da heck am I?_ he wondered. He heard a noise and realized someone was there. _But it not da femme._Using the slightest of movements he reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a card. He charged it slightly, then with great momentum, flew over behind the couch and opened his eyes. His hand was outstretched towards the figure that was crouched up on the table. _Whoa_thought Pietro, _this guy's fast._He had noticed the mutant stirring, but it hadn't been as slow as he was used to. "Where be de femme?" _Femme? Who does this guy think he is? And what's with the cheesy accent?_

"She's not here." he said coolly, a smile on his face.

"Den where is she!" he said as his anger flared. Remy didn't like this guy, he seemed cocky… _like me_ he added.

"She left."

"Liar!" he yelled and let the card fly. Quicksilver had seen the card coming though and dodged it easily. "Where'd…" Before he could finish he was down on the ground. "Merde." The next thing he knew he'd received two blows to the face. _Dat's it._Remy then bent his knees and threw Pietro off of him, right into a wall. Gambit stood, a little woozy, with another glowing card in hand. But before he had the chance to throw it, the ground shook and he fell to the ground.

"What's going on here?" asked an angry Lance.

"I don't want this guy here." He said it slowly so that there was no mistaking. He meant what he said, and he wanted it to be clear.

"Den why you bring me here?" Gambit asked, glaring at Quicksilver.

"He didn't." replied Lance. "Rogue did." Gambit turned to look at the boy standing in the doorframe.

"Den where he be at?" Lance chuckled, which annoyed and confused Remy at the same time. _I don' like to be laughed at_ He narrowed his eyes. "What be so funny?"

"Rogue - is a girl." Lance replied in between laughing. "She said the two of you were attacked earlier today."

"She okay?" Remy needed to know.

"She'sfinenothankstoyouasshole." _I'd probably be offended if I knew what de hell dat guy just said._

"Ya, she's fine. She wanted to make sure you had a place to say until you recovered. She's probably still around here some…"

"She left." Pietro stated. _She left? Why would she leave?_

I saw you two go outside…" Lance started.

"You da reason she left." Remy turned accusingly at Pietro.

"You'rethereasonsheleft.You'retheonethatwentandkissedher."

"He what?" Lance's mouth dropped open.

"That jerk went and kissed her." Pietro spat out each word.

"Oui." A smirk crossed Remy's lips. _And what a kiss it was._ Lance and Pietro both studied the look on the Cajun's face. Lance looked confused and Pietro looked down right pissed.

"But why?" came the voice of Avalanche.

"Why not?"

"Well, I mean, ya know. Touching her – it's dangerous."

_Yayoutouchingherwasdefinetlyamistake._ Pietro glared.

"It was worth it …" he added, shrugging "and I like to live dangerously." Lance couldn't comprehend it, but Pietro could. He imagined what kissing Rogue would be like but then stopped. _Why am I acting like this over Rogue?_he questioned himself. They had been fighting each other for about a year now. Well, the two of them never actually fought one another, but their teams had.

"If you say so dude." Lance turned around and walked out of the room, then popped his head back in. "And now that you're up, I think it would be a good idea for you to leave. Pietro looks like he's ready to rip you apart." Gambit smirked at the white haired boy.

"And why is dat anyway?" he asked curiously. Quicksilver just continued his glaring.

Thump Thump Thump Toad had sprung his way into the living room. "Toad, get lost." Pietro said with his teeth clenched together. Todd just ignored this and clung to the ceiling looking down at Gambit.

"This the guy the x-freak brought in?" he questioned.

"What do you mean x-freak?"

"Ya know, Rogue."

"Dat not a very nice way to talk about your friend homme."

"That loser ain't no friend of mine yo." he said, hopping around the Cajun.

"GetlostTodd!" came Pietro's voice. _IfhesaysonemorethingaboutRogue…_Just as he was thinking this, Gambit had reached out and grabbed Toad.

"How you know her den?"

"She's one of the X-M…."

"School!" Pietro blurted. He didn't know why, but he didn't want this guy to know about the X-Men, or the Brotherhood for that matter.

"Pardon?" Gambit asked, confused by the reply. Toad got a look from Pietro, warning him not to say anything more about the X-Men. Todd didn't know why, but he knew better then to question him.

"She goes to our school." he repeated.

"And which school would dat be?" Todd could see Pietro out the corner of his eye shaking his head, telling him to just shut up. When he didn't reply, the mutant grabbed the collar of his shirt, which began to glow. "WHICHSCHOOL?" he demanded.

"Uhhh…Bayville…." he stuttered and Remy dropped him.

"Merci." Gambit took notice of the open window behind him. _Time to go._ "And now, I t'ink I may 'ave over stayed my welcome." Pietro saw the guy take a few steps back and do a back flip out the window. He darted out after him, but couldn't find him. Super speed didn't help any if you couldn't see the guy.

"DAMN IT!" he said aloud, when a powerful voice came from behind him.

"Now, now Pietro. I thought I brought you up better than that." the voice chided. Quicksilver turned around.

"Whatdoyouwant dad?"

TBC>


	6. SlowMo6

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 6

Rogue did NOT want to get out of bed that morning. She felt a lot more like crawling into a hole and dying. But when trying to explain this to Logan, he informed her that was just "too dang bad" because her "ass was going to school." So, she had reluctantly rolled out of bed and gotten dressed. She put on her usual black leather skirt with fishnet stockings, a black tank top and a sheer, green, long sleeved top. She didn't need to put on her gloves though because she had slept in them. She had gone straight to her room and stayed there all night after she had come home. _Ah'm ALWAYS dangerous_she had told herself. _Ah'll always BE dangerous._

Sleepily, she searched her room for her bag. However, after five minutes of searching, she realized she didn't have it. Thinking back she came to the conclusion that she had probably dropped it when fighting the mob the other day. _Great._Sighing in frustration and dragging her feet from exhaustion sheproceeded to make her way to the washroom and saw the long line up at the door. _Great. _Bobby was banging on the door, his hand encased in ice. Spyke was behind him, with Nightcrawler annoyingly bamfing in front and behind him. "Hey! No cutting!" he yelled. Amara and Rahne were gossiping at the back. Deciding against making her washroom break, she continued on and made her way down the stairs. Making her way to the kitchen for some breakfast, she heard some clanging. Rounding the corner, she was hit in the face with a pancake.

Just great." she said, brushing the pancake off her face and making her way to the door.

"Do you want a ride to school?" Scott called to her. There was no answer, just some muttering and the slamming of the door. "Oh okay."

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_Great. Great. Great. Great! GREAT!_ Rogue kept repeating to herself. She had looked up and down the block for her book bag without any results, so continued on to school. _Not really sure why, seein' as how Ah won't have any of mah books. _She was only a couple of blocks away when she heard a noise from behind her. She turned around, only to find no one there. "Hmph. Probablay Speedy playin' with meh again." Only when she turned around, she found two red eyes looking down at her. Her breath got stuck in her throat and she stumbled a few feet backwards. This made the Cajun smile.

"Sorry Roguey, didn't mean ta scare ya." saying this he brought his arm out from behind his back to reveal her book bag. Her eyes widened. _He went back and got mah bag?_ He extended his arm, offering her the bag. She hesitated for a second, took it, muttered a "thank you", then looking at the ground tried to move past him. Only every time she tried to do so, he'd stand in her way. Keeping her head down, she whispered that she was sorry and that if he would just let her pass he'd never have to see her again. He noticed she wasn't looking at him and looked…defeated? Quirking an eyebrow he asked "Now what make you t'ink I'd want dat? And why you apologizin?" She looked up at him, confused. _He don't seem angray…._

"Ya know, the other day…." A smile came to his face as a memory of the kiss they had shared entered his mind.

"Don't see why you's apologizin'. Way I see it, I should be t'ankin you chere." Rogue didn't know how to reply to that.

"So…so ya are alraght then? Ah mean, ya ain't angray?" Looking at him she saw him smile down genuinely at her.

"Angry chere? Non. But Remy is curious as to why you left yesterday." She shuffled her feet when the Brotherhood jeep flew by blasting music. Rogue's eyes followed the path of the vehicle, or more accurately the boy with the white hair sitting in the back. At one point, he turned and looked at her, their eyes locking. But it was only for the briefest of moments. Remy noticed this as she sighed. _Hmm…_ "Dere go your friends." he said flatly.

"They ain't exactly mah friends…."

"Non?" he asked curiously.

"Nah, just some guys Ah go ta school with." Still looking in the schools direction she added, "We don't even get along most of the time." A slight tug pulled at her lips. After all, it was kind of funny when she thought about. _They're tha enemy, and yet here Ah am…_ She wouldn't allow herself to continue the thought and turned her attention back to the handsome young man in front of her.

"Hmph. Ya, dat Pietro seems to t'ink pretty highly of himself, non?" he asked looking down at her, waiting for her to react again. Anger started to surface when she thought about what Pietro had done.

"Ya." she replied flatly. Offering her his arm Remy asked.

"Would da chere mind if Remy escorted her to school?" With a genuine smile she replied.

"Not in tha least." and she hooked her arm with his and the two made their way down the street.

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The music was blaring, but he could hardly hear it. He was sitting in the back of the jeep, thinking about his father's "visit" the other day.

**Yesterday**

"Pietro, I'm hurt you don't look happier to see me." his father had said, mocking hurt.

"WHATDOYOUWANT?" he asked again. Magneto could not have picked a worse time to be playing his mind games.

"To talk." was his simple reply. He studied the man's face, he knew it couldn't be that simple. _Could it? After all this time…. _Th_e _truth was, he hated not having a real family. His mother had died long ago, his sister was in a mental institution and his father was hell-bent on destroying the entire human race. A genuine father/son talk would be nice. _Not to mention a few years overdue…._

Talk?" he paused "and that's all?" He had been hopeful.

"That is all."

The two walked for awhile. Eric asked his son about school, the Brotherhood and even girls. Pietro began shuffling his feet. "There is someone, isn't there?" he asked looking down at the boy.

"Well…" The boy had noticed four shadows appear beneath him, then turned his attention up to the sky. Overhead were four giant silver spheres making their way to the ground. "Whatthe?"

"Ah, just in time." Pietro glared at Magneto.

"Justtalkmyass…"

"Now Pietro, be nice. I have some mutants I'd like you to meet." The spheres hovered down to touch the ground. Two of them opened revealing two mutants. One was very large in size, his skin was completely covered in metal and his black hair was in a crew cut. He didn't say anything, just nodded in Quicksilver's direction. The second was smaller in size and although he wasn't covered in muscles like the other one had been, you could tell he was in top physical shape. He wore a red and yellow costume with some type of pack attached to the back of it. _Wonderwhatthatdoes?_As soon as the question had crossed his mind, the mutant smiled, stuck his arms out, palms facing the sky and produced two balls of flame.

"Hey there mate. Name's Pyro." the mutant said in an Australian accent.

"Wellthatsjustpeachy.Nowwhat'sthisallabout?" he asked impatiently.

"Join me Pietro." He had half expected this. He thought back to a time when his father had gotten him to do things. He had done them too, just to make his father proud. Part of him missed that, and wouldn't mind having that again. But he hadn't understood then what it was that his father was trying to do. He spoke of how he wanted to make the world a better place for mutants. But this better world of his included him as its ruler – and a world VOID of humans. Then he started thinking of those who opposed him. The X-men.

"No." he replied flatly.

"No?" anger apparent in the master of magnetism's voice, "and I suppose you'd rather hang out with those losers you call friends! Wouldn't you like for once to be on the winning team?"

"Winning team?"

"When is the last time you defeated the X-Men? Join with me, and we will finish them. Then there will be no one to stop us from destroying those who persecute our kind." THIS was where their views differed. Pietro did NOT want the persecution, the rejection and hatred mutants got from others, simply because they were born different. He wanted them to be afraid but only so that the taunting would stop. That was all he was trying to do. Just scare them. Maybe even teach them a lesson but his dad, well he was willing to take drastic measures, with deadly consequences. Sure they fought with the X-Men, but they'd never tried to KILL one another. He knew he may have been a lot of things but a killer was not one of them.

"Isaidno." The two mutants that had been watching this looked over at Magneto, who only stared with rage at his son.

"No!NO!" He signaled at the other two mutants but before the two of them had made it even one step, Quicksilver was gone. "Stop." commanded Magneto. "Pyro, Colossus, in the transporters." They obeyed and the spheres closed behind them. "You have made your choice Pietro, another one will NOT be given to you. Soon you will share the same fate as all others who oppose me."

**Today**

Sitting in the back of the jeep on his way to school he wondered if he had made the right decision. He caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. Turning around, he saw Rogue. She was looking right at him, and for a moment, their eyes locked. That was all he had needed. He had made the right decision. Only then did he notice the Cajun was with her. _Imayhavemadetherightdecision,_he thought turning around _butI'mnotsureitwillmatter._

_Shemightneverknow. _

_TBC> _


	7. SlowMo7

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 7

Rogue had given one last look behind at Remy before entering the school. "Bah." she said giving a wave. He smiled and watched her walk away. However, as soon as she was out of his sight, a look of disgust came across his face. Someone had spray painted the words "Death To The Muties" on the front of the school. It was done in big bold letters - you'd have to be blind not to see it, yet one of the teachers walked by, smiled at some students standing outside and continued on his way. Gambit gritted his teeth.

"Bastards. All of dem." He turned quickly on his heels, not being able to get away from the place fast enough. _I can not believe dat femme be goin' to dat school_then added w_it' dem_His teeth began grinding together. He didn't know how she could stand it. Rogue had to hide her identity day in and day out, listening to these scumbags and what they thought about mutants. He hated normal people. Then Remy began thinking back to a time, a time when he had been in love. Her name was Bella Donna.

**Flashback **

Remy was dressed in a black tux, Bella, in a light blue gown. The two stood in front of the altar, smiles on their faces. They had known each other their whole lives and fallen in love. Now, at the age of only seventeen the two were to be married. It was the happiest day of their lives.

Remy's father had approved almost right away to the marriage, knowing that his adopted son loved the girl with his whole heart. It had taken Bella's father a much longer time however. He questioned the boy's intentions, and insisted that the boy would be nothing but bad news. But after a visit from Jean-Luc LeBeau, who reminded him of how their guilds would be united and all that it would entail, he agreed.

Now surrounded by friends and family alike, the two exchanged their vows. Bella Donna slipped a golden ring onto his finger and smiled.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

Tears of pure joy began streaming down her face. Remy thought she had never looked more beautiful than she did right then, and he didn't think he could be any happier spending the rest of his life with anyone else. A feeling of pure pride and joy washed over him as he went to place the ring on her finger. That's when a gasp washed over all those in attendance. Remy turned, meeting the eyes of several of the guests who all seemed to be focusing down at Bella's hand. Then everything seemed to move in slow motion as he turned and looked down at her hand in his. Both their hands were glowing and he felt a burning sensation starting in his hands. Bella looked at him. The look of happiness was gone and replaced with fear.

"Remy?" She was scared. He didn't know what to do. Then Bella's father yelled.

"Let go of my daughter FREAK!"

Remy immediately let go of her hand and the glow no longer encompassed it. His hand, however, was now glowing more brightly than before and the pain became much more intense. He screamed out in pain as the ring on his finger exploded. Then as suddenly as the pain had appeared it was gone. Remy looked down at his hands in awe then looked back at Bella who was being looked after by her father and brother.

"Told ya that boy was no good." he said embracing her. Remy tried to read her expression but she wasn't making eye contact with him. He soon became aware of the silence filling the church. Looking out at those in attendance, he found both disgust and fear on their faces. Then someone whispered. Then another person. Then the whispers grew louder for all to hear.

"Mutant." they all said. Remy became very afraid and turned back to Bella hoping for some sign of …he didn't know what…but all he found was a very angry Julien.

"You could have killed her!" he said moving slowly towards Remy.

"I…didn' mean to…" Remy, now aware of several members of the Assassins Guild making their way towards him, added "I…couldn' control it…" He looked out to his fellow members, most had their heads hanged down, others were walking away, and others looked uncertain of what to do. Then lastly he met eyes with his father. He didn't find the re-assurance he was hoping for, instead, he found a dumbfounded Jean-Luc. "Papa…" he sounded exactly like a scared little boy.

"Run." was all he said. Tears began to stream down his face. Remy took one last glance at Bella Donna but she would not acknowledge him. The Assassins looked threateningly at Remy. He didn't know how the happiest day in his life had become the worst but he knew right then and there- it would never be the same. Sadly, he turned back to the only father he had ever known, gave a small nod and ran.

**End Flashback**

His life had never been the same after that. He had stayed in New Orleans for a short while after, but news had traveled quickly, and he had become a target. He had found himself the recipient of too many beatings and thought it best to leave. Start a new life. A life where he would no longer be a victim. _Not ever again._

His anger resurfacing, Gambit failed to notice his powers had started up when some football players walked by. "It's a mutie!" one of them yelled. Gambit turned to face them.

"Look! It's a bunch 'o' morons!" he mock replied pointing at the football players. The group of boys looked at one another.

"Dude, did he just insult us?" one of them asked, which got a couple of chuckles from Remy.

"Who cares." the largest boy in the group said, making a fist and punching it into the palm of his hand for emphasis. "He's a mutie." The boys began circling around him as he took out a stack of cards charging seven, one for each boy. _Dis could be fun…._ Gambit thought. The boys all moved towards him. He threw three cards at the ones he was facing, then pivoted and threw the other four. Two of the boys had already gotten up and tried to rush him from behind but he was prepared. He accurately back flipped over the boys, landing behind them. He tapped them on the shoulders and when they turned around, he delivered a powerful blow to both of their faces. The larger one had slowly pulled himself up and grabbed Remy in a bear hug.

"Sorry homme, but Gambit don't swing dat way." Struggling to get out of the boy's grip, Remy grabbed a hold of his attacker's arm and allowed his powers to leak out. "You don put me down, de arm goes…" he said coolly.

"What the…!" he yelled looking down at his arm glowing pink and quickly dropped Remy before running off.

"What'd he do to Jimmy's arm man?"

"Who cares - let's get the hell out of here!"

"We'll get you for this freak! You and all your other mutie friends!" the retreating boys called back. Remy glared at the retreating forms and spit. He reached into his trench coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and went to light it when a voice spoke.

"Ugly habit that." Gambit didn't bother to turn around.

"Don' recall asking for an opinion'" he said going to flick on his lighter before it flew out of his hand. "Merde." he said turning around to see his lighter hover over to a man in red.

"No. I don't suppose you did." The man made a fist with his hand as the floating lighter crumpled. Gambit's eyes opened wide. The initial shock quickly wore off though and he placed a look of indifference on his face.

"Impressive."

"I was about to say the same thing to you. You handled that rather well." he said, a smile on his face.

"Dey deserved it."

"I have no doubt that they did." he said looking down at him with understanding. "We are Homosapien-Superior. They are scum. That in itself is reason enough." Remy gave a smirk at this. _Odd he doesn't seem the type to join with the X-Men_Magneto thought inwardly. "Where is it that you are staying?" he asked with what Remy thought was genuine concern. He didn't know why this guy seemed so interested in him or why it was he trusted him but he did.

"Deres dis buildin' down a coupla blocks, abandoned." he added. "Ain' much, but it be better den notin'." _There's no way he's one of Xavier's students. He'd never allow the boy to live like that. _Magneto smiled outwardly.

"Well maybe we can do something about that." Remy looked up at him quizzically. "Let me tell you about the Acolytes."

TBC>


	8. SlowMo8

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 8

Rogue looked out the window of her classroom, not looking at anything in particular, just staring. In her hand she held a copy of Romeo and Juliet. Several key scenes ran through her mind where the two main characters were replaced by the handsome Cajun and herself. Her mind continued to wander transporting her into a whole other world. A world where she could touch and be touched. However, she found herself slowly pulled out of her dreamy state by the sound of Pietro's voice.

"…and he really wants to be with Juliet, only he's not entirely sure why. And there's all these reasons why he shouldn't." _Am Ah hearin' raght? Pietro's ACTUALLY takin' part in class discussion? And about romance?_Rogue glanced over at the boy, and thought he was looking at her. _Nah.__Thas just silly_she told herself as she noted he was looking up at the teacher.

"Very good Pietro. That is why Romeo and Juliet are said to be star-crossed lovers…,." the woman's voice drowned out in Rogue's ears as she continued to observe Pietro. His head was slumped down, his eyes seeming to look right through the desk. He looked up when he became aware of the emerald green eyes watching him. He looked at her, his eyes an ocean blue as he whispered to himself.

"Just thought it was sad is all" then quickly returned his attention to the desk, when he heard a snicker from in front of him."What'ssodamnedfunnyLance?" he asked angrily. The boy sitting in front of him turned around.

"You man" he said looking at him like he was crazy. "Since when have you started reading Shakespeare, or paying attention in CLASS for that matter?"

"Whatever." Pietro wasn't in the mood to put up with Lance, nor did he wish to explain his feelings. Lance gave him a skeptical look before giving out an exasperated sigh and turned back around.

"Ya…whatever." Pietro went to take a look at the girl looking out the window once again. _Iwonderwhatshe'sthinkingabout?_Truth was, Pietro was going crazy. He had wanted to talk to Rogue all day, but time seemed to be going agonizingly slow. More so than usual. That had been one of the reasons he decided to participate in the class discussion. He couldn't just keep looking at her. He looked at the clock to see that there was only five more minutes of class. _DAMNIT!Can'tthisclassgoanyfaster!_

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Rogue was looking out the window, silently hoping to catch a glimpse of Remy. She wondered if he'd be waiting for her after school. Or if he was off getting into trouble. Or whether or not she'd even see him again. And if so – when? Shaking her head, she turned to the front of the class. Only when she turned around she saw Pietro staring right back at her. "WhatyathinkinaboutRogueyroo?"

"AH!" she yelped falling backwards in her chair but found herself leaning in mid air before hitting the ground. She was promptly placed back facing the front of the room again looking at Pietro who looked a little embarrassed.

"Sorry,didn'tmeantoscareyou." She blinked, then took notice that no one else was in the room.

"Did Ah miss somethin'?" she asked him. He chuckled.

"Onlythebell…youmusthavebeenREALLYoutofit" He tilted his head, almost in a concerned manner.

"Ah was jus thinkin' is all" she said picking up her books and getting out of her chair.

"AbouthowincrediblyhotIamright?" he said giving one of his trademark smiles. Rogue sighed loudly and began walking away. "Rogue?" She slowly turned around to face the Speed Demon.

"What is it Speedy?" she asked, trying to look annoyed.

"I wanted to talk to you about the other day." Rogue looked at him.

"Ya all raght LET'S talk about the other day. WHY is it that Remy has a BLACK ah?" she questioned him with her arms on her hips tapping one of her feet and waiting for a response. Pietro didn't notice - he had too big a smile on his face.

"Really? A black eye?" he started chuckling. Rogue gave a cough and began tapping her foot louder. "Ermmmmm…" he started, not knowing what to say. Truth be known, Rogue already knew what happened, but she asked hoping to avoid Pietro bringing up the argument they had had.

"Ah mean Ah leave the guy with the brotherhood so he can rest up, an ya all go and tussle with him in his weakened condition!" she flailed her arms in the air. Pietro gave a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping.

"Roguey,theguydeserveditokay?" then slowing down he added "But that's not what I wanted to talk about…I want you to know I didn't lie to you.."

"Here we go again…" she added sarcastically.

"WouldyoujustLISTENalready!" he asked, his annoyance and anger becoming obvious. Rogue took a step backwards, surprised by the outburst. Pietro regretted having used that tone already. "Look, I'm sorry okay? But, you haven't even let me defend myself." Rogue could see he was being serious. _Looks kinda hurt_ she noted. She nodded, indicating that he could continue. A small smile tugged at the side of his mouth, getting excited, he began talking at his normal fast pace. "Okay,theotherdaywhenIranintoyou,youhadyourglovesoff, andwhenyouswungyourarmourskintouchedandnothinghappened!ButthenyouwentandkissedthatsmellyCajunandyouendedupabsorbinhim." He looked up to see a slightly confused Rogue, and chose to slow down. "So I was thinking, maybe you can only touch certain people." Rogue was looking right through Pietro as if she were in deep thought. He watched her intently as she slowly began to focus again.

"Ah don't know Pietro," she said placing a hand on her forehead "Ah don't see how thas all possible."

"I don't know, all I know is that you touched me." He began moving closer to her and she found her hand fluttering up towards him. When she realized what she was doing, she pulled her hand back to her chest. "Go ahead" he said.

"No, Ah couldn't."

"Yes, you can. And then you can see I'm not lying." He grabbed her covered arm and moved his hand down to her gloves and began tugging at them, looking in her eyes the entire time. Looking right back Rogue became confused at what she saw.

"Why ya doin' this Speedy?" she asked. A smile played across his face as he dropped her gloved hand. At first, Rogue thought he had just been playing with her. The smile he wore was like a slap in the face. She went to look down at her gloved hand when she heard Pietro take in a deep breath.

"Because…"

Then his lips were on hers.

TBC>


	9. SlowMo9

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 9

Rogue couldn't believe it - someone was kissing her. Pietro was kissing her! It was wonderful. _Guess he wasn't lyin' _was one of the many thoughts running through her mind. She had never experienced anything like it. New emotions and feelings began to surface within her. _No wonda they call him Quicksilver _she joked to herself. The heat and pressure of his lips alone was intoxicating. It wasn't long before Rogue leaned in and started kissing him back. She could feel his mouth turn up into a smile when she did so. She couldn't help it, she wanted more and deepened the kiss. She became aware of the hands placed on her hips and loved the way they felt around her. At the same time it frightened Rogue and caused her to open her eyes as she realized what they were doing._ Oh gawd. What was Ah thinkin'? _and she slowly and reluctantly stopped her pursuit on the other boy's lips.

Noticing her stop, Pietro slowly opened his eyes to see her wide eyed ones looking right back at him. He pulled his face away from hers but left his hands hanging loosely around her waist, not yet wanting to let go. _Ohno.WhatdidIdowrong?_he questioned himself while searching her face for any indication of what she was thinking. He saw none though and they continued to stand there just looking at one another. Neither one moved or even seemed to breathe. Pietro didn't know what to say, and thought it best to let Rogue talk first.

Lips quivering and voice shaky, Rogue asked the question that she felt needed to be answered. "Why?" That hadn't actually been what Pietro had been expecting and he racked his brain trying to think of what to say.

_Becauseitfeltlikethethingtodo. _

_Ithoughtyouwantedmeto._

_IthinkImightbefallingforyou………Don'tsaythatidiot!_ he told himself before nervously trying to explain it to her. "Well, because I could an…" he stopped as he felt Rogue move out of his arms and back away from him. _Uh oh. _he thought as panic hit him. _Iprobablyshouldn'thavesaidthat. Iprobablyshouldn'thavedonethat. Iprobablyshouldn'thave….._

"Because ya could?" she asked. Pietro thought she looked angry -really angry.

"NoRogueyIdidn'tmeanitlikethat."

"Just because ya can do sumthin, don't mean ya should do it!" she bit back with a disgusted look on her face. She was angry at herself, and having trouble dealing with the fact that she had just made out with the "enemy" but mostly, she was confused and hurt. Rogue being as stubborn as she was though wasn't about to let Quicksilver know that.

"I thought that…" but he didn't finish. He looked at Rogue who had her arms crossed over her chest and utter hate in her eyes. _She'snotevengoingtolisten_he realized with both anger and sadness. He was hurt and embarrassed. Let's face it; the boy hadn't had much experience in the rejection department. _It's not like I asked to like her. _Pietro's hands balled up into fists while he allowed his arms to droop down to his sides. He took one last look into her eyes before saying "whatever" and took off. He didn't even look back to see Rogue slump down to the floor, sobbing.

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Remy laughed along with the man, who had introduced himself as both Eric and Magneto. He had just finished telling the boy about the time one of his Acolytes, Pyro, created a dog out of fire and had it running around and biting the rears of FOH members. "Sound like a guy Remy'd get along with" he said before getting slightly more serious "but I'm still not sure if dis be de type of ting' I want to do." As soon as the words had left his mouth a strong gust of wind blew by. Remy took notice of Eric's facial expression which had suddenly turned hard. _What he be lookin' for?_ he wondered as the man's eyes wandered.

"You." came a hiss. The next thing Remy knew, he was once again face to face with the cocky, white haired, speed demon.

"Pietro." Remy watched as the boy's eyes went wide and his body stiffened. _What is de homme so fraid' of?_he wondered as Pietro turned to face Eric.

"And you!" the boy yelled accusingly. Gambit watched as Eric's hand flew out in front of him, palm open and grew interested when the white haired boy began to twitch and convulse. Quicksilver continued to struggle and wailed in pain. Remy couldn't help but smile at this. Continuing to struggle, the boy finally managed to break free and was gone in a matter of seconds. Magnus let out a frustrated grunt and brought his hand back down to his side.

"What'd you do?" Remy asked with wonder.

"I was controlling the iron in his body" he stated simply "but the boy is too fast. His system is in over-drive and hard to manipulate."

"He don't seem to like you none too much." Remy said.

"Sons rarely agree with their fathers" he replied flatly, brushing off his uniform. Remy's jaw dropped.

"He be your son!" Remy asked and was completely shocked by the whole situation.

"Only by blood."

"Damn…..thas cold!" Magnus looked at the boy sternly, causing Remy simply to smile. "So if I be one of des Acolytes, will I be fighting the blemish to your family name?" A grin was placed on Magneto's face and he even stifled a chuckle.

"Most certainly."

"Consider me in den."

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Rogue continued pounding at the floor with her fists but stopped when she saw she had left a noticeable dent in the tiling. _Why am Ah lettin him get ta meh lahke this?_she wondered, pushing herself up off the floor. She wiped at her face with her fingers, black smeared over them._ Damn it!_She went into the girl's washroom and looked into the mirror. Her make up was a mess. With a heavy sigh she turned the tap on and began to wash her face. When she was done, she could hardly recognize the girl looking back at her. "Ugh. Ah need ta get ta the mansion." she said storming out of the washroom.

When she walked out of the school she thought she caught a glimpse of brown trench coat disappearing behind a tree. _Remy?_she silently wondered. She stood at the top of the steps, waiting to see if he might appear but when she saw nothing, she made her way over to the tree. "Hello?" she asked, but there was no answer. She went and looked around to the other side only to be disappointed again when she found herself alone. She leaned her head against the tree and wondered why she was doing all this to herself. That's when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around she came face to face with an upside down Cajun, smiling at her.

"Chere." It was the only warning she had before Gambit reached out and grabbed her.

TBC>


	10. SlowMo10

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 10

Rogue let out a scream as she was tossed up onto a branch of the tree. Remy swung back up into the tree and proceeded to cover his ears. "Chere, please, my ears." he pleaded. Rogue's voice died as her cheeks became flushed. When her embarrassment died down she playfully punched Remy in the arm, who over-exaggerated how much it hurt.

"Ya scared meh swamp rat!"

"O, so you've given dis t'ief a pet name have you chere?" he asked her with a smirk. "You must really like me den'!"

"Ya, rats really a term of endearment." she added sarcastically and rolled her eyes. She didn't get the oh-so-witty reply she had been expecting from him though and when she turned to look at him, she found him staring at her.

"You never did answer my question petite. Why'd ya leave Remy de other day?" Rogue thought back to the argument she had with Pietro, and a sad look made its way on to her face.

"Ah told ya Remy," she said playing with strands of her hair "Ah didn't think ya'd want ta see meh."

"Well, Remy told you dat weren't true," he started "but he ain't so sure dats da real reason." Rogue let the hair in her hand drop and she tilted her head up to look at him.

"Ah don know what ya mean…" she said, honestly confused. With her looking at him like that he noticed the absence of the make-up Rogue usually wore. He moved his hand to brush a white tendril from her face, when she flinched. "Don't" she said as an instant reaction but Remy left his hand near her face.

"My apologies chere, it jus' dat the belle femme looks so beautiful wit'out all dat make-up." Then he brushed the hair away, tucking it ever so carefully behind her ear. Rogue however grabbed at her hair and let it all fall over her face.

"Ah lahke mah makeup." she stated stubbornly, getting a laugh from the Cajun.

"I guess you must be tired of compliments. A pretty femme like you mus' be gettin' dem all da time."

"Hardlay" was her quick reply.

"Now Remy find dat hard to believe." Rogue let out a hard breath. _This guy just doesn't give up._Not that she necessarily wanted him to; it was just, that it wasn't a good time. "Was wrong?" he asked, watching her tentatively. She let out another heavy breath and cupped her hands, pushing her hair up and holding it a top her forehead.

"Eva feel lahke everythangs goin' wrong an' ain't nuthin' goin' raght?" she asked, still not looking at him. He didn't answer, just waited for her to explain further. "Ah mean, it was onlay a coupl'a days ago that Ah was gettin' used to tha fact that Ah was gonna be alone. That no one could eva lahke a freak lahke meh…" Remy could see that she was really hurting and only wished that he could comfort her in some way, but thought twice about wrapping an arm around her "an now…Ah jus' don't know how ta deal with it all. Not ya, not…" Remy was curious as to of what she was about to say, when she seemed to have changed her mind and surprised him by asking "Why do ya lahke meh anyways? Ya can't eva touch meh ya know." she stated simply, dispirited.

"Look at me Rogue" he said, and she slowly turned to face him. "Look at my eyes." She did, and instantly found herself entranced by them. They were a gorgeous red, and seemed to shimmer when she looked at them. "Now den, do you t'ink dat my eyes are freakish?" She simply shook her head, continuing to look deep into his eyes. "Don t'ink I'm some kind of… diable?"

"Of course not." she said, his eyes meeting hers.

"Well den dere you go. It isn't everyday dat you find someone who's willin' to accept you for everythin' you are." Remy gently took her gloved hand in his. "And when you do, you don' let them go." Rogue was just taking it all in when, with a smile on his face, Remy dropped out of sight.

"Remy?" she called. Then looked over to see his feet beside her and his legs wrapped around the branch. "What ya doin down there swamp rat?" she asked as she watched him swinging upside down. He stretched out his arms, and then placed them behind his head.

"Jus' hangin' around." Rogue slapped her forehead.

"Ya crazay ya know that?" she asked shaking her head at the lame joke.

"Crazy bout you. Care to join me?"

"Sure, why not" she said with a smile and a shrug. Wrapping her leg around the branch she flipped herself down beside Remy. "Whoa, headrush!" she exclaimed and the two shared a laugh. Rogue dangled her arms down which were almost touching the ground. Remy now had a very nice view of her stomach. (Which he admired greatly.) "Ah, Remy?" she started to ask.

"Ya chere?"

"How do Ah get down?" She looked at him and was concerned about the mischievous look on his face.

"Dat depends…you ticklish?" Both looked at each other, hanging upside down.

"Maybe...why?" and as soon as the question left her mouth she was assaulted with an onslaught of tickles."AH!AHAHAHHA!STOP!AHAHA!STOPIT!" She was laughing so hard, that she began to lose her grip on the branch. "AAA!AHM FALLIN!AHM FALLIN!AAAAA!STOP!AHAHA!" Feeling her legs slipping, Rogue closed her eyes and tried to brace herself for the impact of hitting the ground. But for the second time that day, she found herself saved.

"I knew it! You really have fallin' for Remy!" he exclaimed with a chuckle, placing her down on the ground.

"Ya, you're a real riot." she told him rolling her eyes, yet unable to hide the laugh she was trying to hold in. She brushed her clothes off, while Remy leaned against the tree, pulling out a pack of smokes. "Those things'll kill ya, ya know." she said plainly.

"Lies! All lies I tell you!" he replied, acting overly dramatic. "Don' worry chere, ain't never go'n happin'." He lit one and put it to his lips.

"Ya well, tell that ta mah momma." she said, beginning to walk away from him "She died a lung canca'." Remy took the cigarette away from his lips and studied it for a moment before throwing it to the ground and stomping it out with his foot.

"Remy sorry chere. If da smokin' bug you dat much, Remy'll stop." She let out a laugh and turned to face him.

"Ain't that swamp rat. It's just that Ah gotta get goin' before mah…" she stopped herself from saying "leader", it would only lead to a whole lot of questions "friends get worried." Remy raised an eyebrow but nodded in understanding.

"So when will I see the joli femme again?"

"Ah don know. When do ya wanna see her again?" she asked, imitating the way he sometimes talked about himself in the third person.

"Maybe, later tonight?" he asked, moving closer to her.

"Maybe" she replied with a smirk on her face.

"Tonight then." he said, gently taking her hand in his and placing a kiss to it. Then with a slight salute, he disappeared. _What a show off!_she giggled in her head. Rogue felt something in her hand and looked down to see a small piece of white paper. _How did he..?_she wondered as she began to unfold the paper. The message on it brought a smile to her face. It read:

**8 O'clock **

**On the Roof**

**Be dressed for a night out on the town!**

_A night out on the town huh? Guess this Mississippi gurl's gonna have ta show him how it's done. _

TBC>


	11. SlowMo11

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 11

Rogue looked at herself in the mirror, dark eyeliner in hand, debating whether or not to wear it. She had been so self-conscious this afternoon, with no makeup on, but Remy had soon made her forget all about it. Then, when he had reminded her, he complimented her on how nice she had looked. She stared down at the eyeliner again. The choice should have been easy for anyone else but she needed the mask of makeup. She didn't want people to see her for what she really was; she didn't think that they could handle it. "Forget it" she said aloud and went to apply the eye makeup when Kitty phased through the door.

"Oh, like hey Rogue!" she said grabbing a purse off her bed. Making her way back out the door when she suddenly leaned back in. "Like, why are you so dressed up?" she asked with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Uhhhh…" Kitty's mouth dropped open.

"You like, have a date don't you?" she screamed phasing herself completely back into the room.

"Uhhh…"

"And it's like, with that totally hot guy you met the other day that you were telling me about, right?" she asked moving in closer and closer on Rogue.

"Alraght! Alraght!" Ah'm goin' out with him tanight!" she replied with a smile on her face and her cheeks turning slightly red.

"Oh my god Rogue! That's like, so totally great!" Kitty said jumping up and down when a car horn could be heard. "Oh that's Lance" she said looking out the window. "Hey where are you meeting this guy?"

"In town." she said not wanting to name the exact location.

"In town hm?" she eyed Rogue suspiciously "Well okay then, like, Lance can drive you." she said grabbing Rogue's covered arm and causing her to drop the eye liner pencil in her hand.

"But Kitty, Ah ain't readay yet!" she protested while being dragged down the hall.

"Oh you look great!" she insisted. "Besides I want to, like, meet this Cajun charmer of yours." and before Rogue knew it they were downstairs and out the door.

"Hey pretty Kitty!" Lance said, jumping out of the jeep. "And whoa! Rogue, you look…" Just then, Pietro's head popped up from the back of the jeep.

"She looks great!" exclaimed Kitty who looked at Rogue then noticed the boy sitting in the back of the jeep. "Like, hey Pietro!" Kitty called and dragged Rogue over to the vehicle. Neither Pietro nor Rogue said a word as she climbed into the back beside him. She looked off to the side while Pietro just stared at the front of the jeep.

"So's Rogue joining us too?" Lance asked.

"No, she's got a date." Kitty said giggling. Pietro turned to look at Rogue whose face was turning a bright red.

"Really? So who's the lucky guy?" Lance asked stopping at a red light and turning to look at Rogue who was refusing to answer.

"He's like, this mystery guy she met the other day." Kitty flicked her wrists dramatizing the situation.

"Would this be the guy you brought to the B-Hood the other day?" he asked her with a knowing smirk on his face. Kitty turned around too.

"You, like, didn't tell me about that!" Rogue just kept her head down, not feeling comfortable talking about it with Pietro there. When she didn't start talking Lance began telling Kitty what had happened.

After awhile, Rogue found the courage to look at Pietro but he didn't notice. Suddenly she felt very bad for having accepted Gambit's invitation. _What do Ah have ta feel sorray for?_she asked herself. _It ain't like he actuallay cares about meh._At the moment, she was having a hard time convincing herself._Why does everythang have ta be so damned complacated?_she yelled mentally while letting out a frustrated grunt un-intentionally. This caught Pietro's attention and he turned to find Rogue looking at him. She quickly turned away. Pietro sighed as he took in the sight of her. She looked absolutely stunning._And no make-up._he noted as a slight tug could be felt at the corner of his mouth. _Looks good_and before he could stop himself he was saying the words aloud.

"Youlookgreat." Before he could take the words back she turned, her eyes meeting his.

"What did ya say?" Pietro's mouth opened, the words reluctant to come out at first. Then with a genuine smile he repeated them slower.

"You look really great tonight."

"Thank ya." she said with a modest smile then quickly realized that she was less then a block away from where she was supposed to meet Remy. _Ah can't have them drop meh off there though._ she quickly realized and decided the restaurant "La Café'" would be as good a place as any. "Raght here Lance." she instructed giving a sad look to the boy sitting beside her. She tried to maneuver herself out of the car, when Pietro suddenly showed up on her side of the jeep. Pietro smiled and offered her a hand. Rogue took it and he grabbed her at the waist, pulling her out. They stood there, his hands on her waist, just looking at one another when Kitty spoke up.

"So like, where is this guy?" she asked excitedly.

"Umm...he ain't here yet." she lied. "He should be here any minute though." Pietro's hands slid off her waist and he distanced the space between them.

"But I want to see him!" Kitty pouted.

"No can do, we have to leave now to make it to the movie on time." Lance told her. Rogue let out a sigh of relief then looked at Pietro who was slowly making his way back to the jeep.

"Sorry." she whispered then pretended to enter the restaurant as the jeep pulled out of sight.

"Bye Rogue!" yelled Lance and Kitty. She waved back, no longer able to see Pietro. As soon as the jeep was out of sight she started a light sprint towards the apartment.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She felt weird being so dressed up and hanging out in a back alley. Rogue looked up at the fire escape. _Great. How am Ah supposta get up there?_She was looking up and trying to assess the situation when Remy leaned over the top. Rogue didn't notice until she heard him whistling. Placing her hands on her hips she tried to look annoyed.

"An' just how am Ah supposed ta get up there swamp rat?"

"Well one might try de front door." he said swooping his arm to direct her to the front of the building. _The front door?_she looked at the entrance of the building. It was surrounded by blocks of wood and coming slightly off of its hinges. She slowly opened the creaking door, hope the tenants don't mind she thought.

When she peered inside the door there was no light on but numerous candles lit the staircase. Rogue smiled and made her way up the flight of stairs. She felt like she was in some sort of romance novel - with elements of a horror film. Best she was able to figure, the apartment was abandoned. Didn't look like anyone had lived there for years. She didn't think about it for too long though when she reached the top of the stairs to see Remy waiting for her. He was wearing a pair of black pants and a tight black t-shirt. His hair hung in his face but she could still see his beautiful red eyes. She smiled at the look he was giving her. She had been nervous about what to wear when he had said to be ready for a night out. Rogue had eventually decided upon a spaghetti strapped maroon dress that cut off just above her knees. Underneath the dress she had on a black nylon body suit and completed the outfit with a pair of silky black gloves and black platforms.

She stood, frozen at first, then began walking over to him. He met her halfway and from behind him brought out a single red rose. She noticed he was wearing a pair of black gloves as well. Rogue's eyes shimmered as she took the rose and raised it to her nose. She inhaled the scent and exhaled with a look of pure joy on her face.

"Ya're such a charmer." she told him with a wink.

"You don' know the half of it chere." He walked over to a black box and pressed a few buttons before a soft melody began to play. "Care to dance belle?" He took her gloved hand in his while placing the other on her waist. Rogue smiled and placed hers on top of his shoulder. They turned slowly looking deep into one another's eyes. Rogue teased a few strands of Remy's hair with her fingers. When he went to dip her he let out a small yelp. They both burst out into laughter. He shifted his hands securely under her and lifted her up. carried her across the rooftop and placed her on the ledge of the building before sitting down beside her. Rogue couldn't help it when tears began to form in her eyes. Remy looked down at her lovingly and wiped her face with his thumb.

"Faire pas gri Rogue." She gave a sad smile.

"Ah'm not upset Remy, it's just, ya know, this is so nahce and…" More tears began to fall down her face and Remy wrapped his arms around her and the two gradually slid down off of the ledge and leaned against it. He moved his hand up and down her back in what he hoped was a soothing manner. She continued to clutch onto his shirt and cry into his shoulder. "Why do ya have ta be so wonderful?" she softly murmured into him.

After several minutes had passed, Rogue slowly released her grip on Remy and turned in his arms. Wiping at her eyes she apologized. "Ah'm so sorry. Ah don't know why Ah did that." Remy told her not to worry as he placed a kiss on the top of her head where he was protected by her hair. The two gazed up into the night sky and held each other for a very long time.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Whose apartment is this?" she asked in a dreamy voice, slightly curious but more or less wanting to start a conversation. She loved the sound of the man's voice.

"It's where I…" he was about to say it was where he lived when he realized it wasn't anymore "used to live." she turned in his arms and looked up at him.

"Ya used ta live here sugah?" He nodded slightly. "With ya family?"

"No chere. Theys back in New Orleans."

"O." she mouthed. Stretching her legs out Rogue let out a yawn. Remy smiled adoringly at her.

"Is da belle femme tired?"

"No." she replied softly as her eyes started to close.

"You're a liar." he said while attempting to get up.

"No…Ah am…not." she said snuggling into him. Remy couldn't help but laugh. "Hey!" Rogue teased in a sleepy tone. "Pillows aren't supposta move."

"Come on chere." he said while getting up from underneath her. Rogue's head flopped in the other direction. Remy shook his head in amusement and reached down to help her up. "I don' t'ink your family be none too happy if you don' get home soon." But the girl was still being stubborn. So Remy simply sighed and picked her up in his arms. Carrying her down the stairs he made a couple of comments about her weight. Joking, of course.

"Ya gonna carry meh all the way home?" she questioned.

"Ha. Remy may be in amazing shape chere, but dere's no way I could do dat." Rogue felt herself being placed on something and managed to open her eyes enough to recognize the object as a motorcycle. Remy held onto her waist and positioned himself behind her. The warmth of him comforted her and she leaned back into him. "Try an stay awake, k chere?" he asked starting the motorcycle. Rogue nodded in agreement. "Okay den. Let's go." Remy slowly pulled out from the curb.

_Don' wan' go too fast. _he told himself. He continued down the road when he suddenly realized that he didn't have the slightest clue where he was going. He nudged Rogue a little and looked down at her to ask for directions.

And that's when it happened…

TBC>

Authors Note: "Faire pas gri Rogue." is supposed to be "Do not cry Rogue." in French. I used an English to French dictionary and like seven different words came up for both "do" and "not". So I probably used the wrong ones for the situation, but I thought they sounded best.

Does anyone appreciate the attempts at Romy AND Rietro? I try to keep everyone happy!


	12. SlowMo12

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 12

All it had taken was one second for Remy's world to turn upside down - literally. He felt himself losing control of the bike when it began to swerve. The sudden movement startled Rogue, who was now attempting to stay on the motorcycle. She could feel herself slipping off of the left side and _Ohmahgawd! Ohmygawd!_was all that her brain seemed to be registering. Remy was quick to realize that by the way she was falling, Rogue would most likely end up banging her head on the asphalt. He moved his arm down to try and cover her head and had succeeded in protecting her when they first hit the ground, however, when they began to skid his arm was pulled out from underneath her and the side of her face dragged along the pavement. Remy managed to keep most of his upper body from dragging along the pavement but his leg was completely trapped underneath the dragging motorcycle. He bit his lip and cried out, while Rogue remained eerily silent. Deciding he needed to stop the momentum of the vehicle as soon as possible, Remy grabbed at one of the handles with his right arm and turned it hard to the right. The vehicle skidded to a halt.

Remy winced at the pain shooting up his leg and tried to wiggle it out from underneath the bike. He quickly realized that it was useless and turned his attention to Rogue.

"Rogue?" he called out to her but there was no answer. Panic filled his voice the next time he called out her name. "Rogue? Chere?" There was a soft moan that came from her lips. "Rogue can you hear me?" she moved slightly from when she had landed but was still facing away from him.

"Remy?" she called back with some strain. Remy saw her attempt to get up and then slump back to the ground and cry out in pain. "Oh mah gawd" she whimpered, looking at the blood covering her body and on the road. "Remy? Are….ya…o…kay?" she asked, hyperventilating.

"My leg is stuck. But Remy be okay. Just calm down chere." he said trying to calm her. He struggled to reach out and place his hand on her shoulder in reassurance. Salty tears stung the scrapes on her face as she tried to regulate her breathing. She was so scared it was hard to focus on anything. She couldn't even remember what had happened. It was all just one big blur. Rogue shut her eyes to try and stop the tears which were only causing her more pain when she heard a vehicle heading their way. She opened her eyes but had to shut them again when the headlights fell on her. Rogue could hear the car stop and then someone call out her name.

A pair of hands were delicately placed on her legs. She thought they felt very warm. "Roguey?" the voice choked out. She blinked a few times only to see Pietro looking down at her. She was so happy that someone had found them that she began to cry even harder and couldn't breath properly.

"Oh my god Rogue!" came Kitty's voice. She was soon standing over the Southern Belle as well, followed by Lance.

"Oh man. This isn't good." Gasping for air Rogue pleaded with them to help Remy. She saw a bit of reluctance from Pietro, but she soon heard both him and Lance attempting to lift the heavy motorcycle off of him. Remy took a large breath and gritted his teeth together as the weight was lifted from his leg.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaa…" he cried out. Before Rogue could even blink, Pietro was back by her side. He grabbed her hand in his even though her gloves had been horribly torn along with the rest of her clothing. Kitty watched in wide-eyed horror as the two made skin to skin contact. Lance, who was currently aiding Remy, noticed the look of fear on his girlfriend's face. Quickly helping the Cajun man up, he made his way over to her.

"What is it?" he asked. Kitty looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Like, Rogue's touching Pietro and nothings happening." she said quietly. Remy glared at the boy, but Pietro didn't pay it any attention. "I think she's dying." and she leaned into Lance, crying on his shoulder.

"Non." Remy gasped and tried to limp his way over to her.

"Its okay Kitty." Rogue choked out. "Speedy here's just not affected…" she took a deep intake of breath, causing all to eye her nervously "..by mah powers." Everyone looked at the two with shock.

"What?" Kitty asked.

"I can touch Roguey and nothing happens." he said rather mechanically, never taking his eyes off of Rogue. She gave him a slight smile and then went limp in his arms. "Rogue!" he cried out in panic.

"Oh my god!" Kitty ran over to her. "We need to get her to the Professor!" she blurted out.

"I'lltakeher." Pietro said, lifting her limp body into his arms. He turned towards the mansion to find Gambit standing in his way.

"I don' t'ink so." he said to the boy. Pietro looked up at the man with complete defiance but knew it wouldn't do any good to get the guy mad. He needed to get Rogue to the mansion right away.

"Like, let him go! He can get her there the fastest!" Kitty pleaded.

"Dis ain't done homme." Remy said, moving out of his way reluctantly. Pietro didn't even bother to reply and ran for the institute as fast as he could.

"JustholdonRogue."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Wolverine was on patrol that night so Xavier sent him a telepathic message first. "Whaddya want Charles?"

"Rogue has been in an accident Logan." Logan's eyes went wide. "Kitty has relayed to me that Pietro…he's here." Logan, not fully grasping what it was Quicksilver was doing there, ran to meet him. He came up from behind as Pietro was banging on the front door.

"Maximoff!" he growled, unsheathing his claws. Pietro quickly turned around to reveal Rogue unconscious in his arms. Wolverine pulled the claws back in and ran towards them. "Let's get her inside." Logan took Rogue from Pietro and entered the school. Xavier was waiting for them at the foot of the stairs along with Ororo and Beast.

"Take her to the infirmary." Logan nodded and headed downstairs. Pietro went to follow when Ororo stopped him.

"Child, why don't you wait up here with me?" Pietro still maintained his forward momentum and would not consider her request. Storm placed her hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at her. "There's nothing you can do right now. You'd only be getting in the way." she told him regretfully. Quicksilver's entire body slumped when he realized that she was right. "I'm sure she'll be fine and if you'd like, you can wait here with me." he simply nodded his head as she led him into the living room. "Would you like anything to drink? Or perhaps eat?" Pietro shook his head at first. He was more concerned about Rogue than anything else. When Storm asked again however he relented and said he could probably use something to eat. She smiled and headed for the kitchen. He felt bad for thinking so much about food but his mutation required he eat a lot. Running roughly four or five miles in less than twenty seconds could take a lot out of the guy. Just then Gambit came through the door with Lance and Kitty not far behind.

"Where is she?" he called out to no one in particular before spotting Pietro sitting on the couch. "Where's Rogue?"

"Theytookherdowntothemedlab." A response that seemed to piss Remy off. A lot.

"Stop messin' around homme and tell me where she be at." Pietro rolled his eyes in annoyance and shook his head.

_Ofcourse!HisbrainstooslowtofollowwhatI'msaying. _He went to say it a little slower, when Remy grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Guys stop!" Kitty yelled. "Pietro, where's Rogue?"

"She's in the med lab." he said very slowly, looking down at Remy. He put Pietro down and then headed for the med lab.

"Hey!" Pietro yelled after him. "You can't go down there!"

"Watch me." Remy said, but didn't get very far.

"Youaren'tgoinganywhere!" Pietro said with his eyes full of rage.

"Jus cuz you be jealous…" Remy began and spat back. Pietro took a swing at Remy who then swept his legs from under him. It was incredibly hard to do with his injury and Pietro could see that. Remy raised his leg to bring his boot down at his throat, but Pietro had already gotten up from underneath him. Snikt Both of the boys turned around to see to a pair of adamantium claws, one pointing at each of them.

"Get out." Wolverine snarled.

"Who you tink' you are?" Gambit asked back. Logan approached him, placing a set of claws underneath his chin.

"Well I know who YOU are bub. You're the piece a shit that took that girl on a motorcycle without a helmet on." he flared his nostrils and added. "So I suggest you leave, before I get REALLY mad." Remy continued to stare down the short man for several seconds before he realized it was useless. He was too beat up to fight.

"Fine." he said, limping over to the door and slamming it on the way out. Pietro had a half-satisfied smirk on his face when Logan turned to him.

"You too."

"But.."

"Look, I appreciate what ya did for Stripes but I don't like you. Neither does he." He pointed to Evan who had just entered the hallway, along with a few others. Evan took in a deep breath before several bone spikes appeared from his body. _Iknowwellenoughtoknowwhensomethingspointless._He turned and made his way to the door where Lance and Kitty were, both with sympathetic looks on their faces.

"I guess I should go too." Lance said turning to Kitty and giving her a small kiss on the cheek, then patting Pietro on the back. Kitty smiled and whispered to him.

" I'll call you as soon as she wakes up."

"Thanks." he said, giving her a weak smile and walking out the door.

"No problem." she said, closing the door behind them.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Logan was walking past the Professor's office when he heard Beast talking. _Maybe it's about Stripes _he thought and slowed down to hear.

"But will she be all right?" Xavier asked.

"She appears to be quite unharmed. And I believe her collapsing may have been due to shock."

"But?" the Professor pushed further at seeing his hesitation. Beast looked down and pretended to clean his glasses.

"However, the scrapes she got from the crash are more like cuts. Some of them, very deep. When she asked about her condition, I informed her of this and the possibility that some of them may not heal. She got rather upset." he replied sadly.

"Well that is understandable. What with her mutat…." Wolverine pulled away from the door. He felt bad for her. Although he'd never openly admit it, he favored some of the students over others. He'd come to think of Rogue as more of a daughter then anything else. He knew something like this would be hard on her. _I just wish I could do sumthin'_he thought, when an idea suddenly came to him and he sprinted towards the elevator.

He entered the med. lab to see Rogue lying on her side, facing the blank white wall. "Hiya darlin'." At first, she showed no sign of moving but then she slowly rolled over to face him. He had to bite his lip. Not because he thought she was hideous or anything like that, but he could see how much it was eating her up inside. Her face was covered in dry blood, lotions and bandages.

"H-hey Wolvie." she said casting her eyes downwards.

"How ya doin?" but she didn't even answer. He walked slowly towards her and placed a hand on her arm, causing her to wince. He gently lifted up her sleeve to see that most of it was covered in blood.

"Not so good." she suddenly admitted. He just nodded his head in understanding and held her bandaged hand.

"Now Stripes…I been thinkin'….that is…." Even in her condition Rogue couldn't help but find amusement in the fact the Wolverine was having trouble saying anything. Logan smiled at her laughter. "Do you trust me?" She looked up at him, confusion evident on her face.

"Well ya, but…"

"Okay then. It's settled."

"O-okay." she stuttered still unsure of what had just been settled but too tired to argue.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep Stripes."

"Alraght." the goth girl replied, closing her eyelids with Logan's hand still in a firm grip.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Rogue woke up with wide eyes and her mouth open to let out a silent scream. She felt the pull of energy as soon as he put his hand to her forehead. She wanted to protest when she felt Logan's healing ability kick in and the cuts on her body begin to heal. _Oh._she thought, looking down at the Wolverine who had a smile on his face. His hand went limp and fell off her forehead as he slumped in the chair beside her bed. She quickly put a hand to his chest to make sure that he was still breathing and laughed when he began to snore.

"Thank ya." she whispered before drifting back to sleep.

TBC>


	13. SlowMo13

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 13

Remy stormed out of the mansion as blind anger threatened to overcome him. He hadn't wanted to leave but he also knew that he was in no condition to fight it out with that guy. He was already hurting when he tried to get the better of the Speed Demon but now the severity of his injuries hit him like a train. He stumbled a bit as he made his way down the stairs. Cringing at the pain he heard a type of whirring sound come up from behind him. He turned to see one of the large metallic orbs belonging to Eric. It landed beside him and he pulled himself in. Once it closed he allowed himself to collapse.

Lance and Pietro reluctantly walked out the front door as Kitty waved apologetically to them. As the two were walking to the jeep Lance stopped to look around.

"What'sthematter?"

"Where'd that guy go?" Lance asked.

"What...guy..." Pietro had begun to ask. He hadn't really been paying attention his mind was mostly on Rogue. He turned, searching the grounds with his eyes, when he thought he heard a sound. His eyes wandered up to the night sky where he thought he saw something. He squinted to try and make out what it was.

"Guess it doesn't matter much anyways." Lance said placing an arm around his friend's shoulder and guiding him towards the vehicle.

"No, guess not." he said glancing back; the object he thought he might have seen already long gone.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Gambit had to bite his tongue, to stop himself from screaming, when the orb landed. When it opened he saw both Magneto and Colossus awaiting him.

"Bonjour." he offered weakly still trying to avoid the pain he was feeling.

"Peter, help him." Eric said before turning towards the base. The acolyte simply nodded his acknowledgement and moved towards an injured Remy.

"Non, I don need your heeelllpp." His voice went higher as the large boy suddenly lifted him over his shoulders. "Mon dieu, this be embarrassing." he said with a type of snort. Remy could have sworn he heard the metal mutant chuckle.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Remy was sitting on an examination table in only his boxers, being looked at by one of the staff, with Eric standing over him and Pyro and Colossus standing against the wall.

"So, what exactly happened there mate?" Pyro asked from across the room. "You didn't take no for an answer?" he chuckled.

"Visser de." (Screw off)

"What does that mean?" he leaned over and asked the Russian who only shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"But de place where da fille be staying is some sort of Mutant Haven, like here." he continued to tell Eric, who was only half listening.

_He already KNOWS all of this._Pyro thought as he watched him pretend to only just be learning of the institute.

"I'll have my people look into it" he said "but if the good doctor is done with you, might I suggest you get some rest?" Remy nodded his head and made his way slowly out of the room.

Magneto walked over to the doctor and began speaking to him in a low voice so that the two acolytes couldn't hear what was being said. The two men began walking out the door when they heard a clanking noise. Magneto had dropped something. Apparently this went un-noticed and he and the doctor continued out the door. Pyro went over and picked up the metallic object.

"Hmm..." he mouthed studying the object.

"What?" Piotr asked in a thick accent.

"Remember when we first met our mate Remy Lebeau?" he asked. "How he wouldn't shut up about the bike Ol' Bucket head gave him and he went out and did all those wild stunts?"

"Ya."

"So how do you suppose someone THAT good, managed to lose control of the thing?"

"I don't..." but before Colossus could finish his question Pyro dropped the object into his hand. Piotr just stood and looked at the object. Pyro almost laughed when he realized the big tin can hadn't figured it out.

"It's a bolt." he said. "Off the Cajun's motorcycle."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The two men stood outside of Remy's room. Eric opened the door slightly just to make certain the boy was asleep. Giving a quick nod to the doctor he entered the room. Moving ever so quietly the doctor made his way over to Remy's bed with a syringe in his hand. They hadn't been thinking about Remy's prior life as a thief or taken in to account the fact that he was a light sleeper. Very aware of the presence lurking over him Remy rolled off of the bed.

"What you wan'?" he demanded. Remy blinked his eyes a couple of times to get them to adjust to the bright light shining from the hallway. Before he got a really good look at who was in the room the second man flung his hand out in front of him. A metallic object jabbed itself into Remy's neck. Remy swayed for a moment before falling to the floor. Magneto nodded his head to the doctor who went over to Remy and placed him back on the bed.

"Mastermind will be here shortly. He'll take care of everything."

TBC>


	14. SlowMo14

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 14

This was a bad idea. _A very bad idea _the large Russian mutant repeated in his head. If he and Pyro were caught listening in on a private discussion of Magneto's there would be serious consequences. For a man made entirely out of metal having the master of magnetism angry with you was none too appealing. But Piotr's Aussie companion had been insistent and he had become increasingly curious as to of what was going on with their new teammate. So that was that. Curiosity had led them intothe incredibly uncomfortable situation of being stuck in an air vent together.

"I'm still a bit confused as to of why you had me do this." said a rather grotesque looking man. Magneto raised his brow as two fingers went up to his lips.

"And I am equally confused as to of why you think I owe you an explanation." The two men continued to eye one another from across the large oak desk until with a large intake of breath Eric attempted to explain all. "Well you see Mastermind, it would seem that Remy has become quite taken with the young mutant girl Rogue."

"Yes, I was able to see that when going through his memories."

"Then I take it you know that he was at the Institute earlier and saw the others." he said getting up from his seat and moving to look out the window.

"Hmmm.. yes, that was what you wanted me to erase from his memory." There was a slight pause and when the man realized Magneto was not about to explain further he dug for more information. "But I don't understand why."

"Why? Because if he befriended them he might let something slip. From what I understand he does not yet realize just exactly what Xavier's Institute is. He doesn't know about the X-Men yet but if he did we would run the risk of losing him."

"But Lord Magneto, I could tell from what I saw that the boy dislikes humans almost as much as you do. He would never join the X-Men." Erik chuckled and turned to face him.

"I take it you have never been in love."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The sun shone through the window and fell delicately over the lean body of the room's sleeping occupant. However, he didn't enjoy it in the least. Remy Lebeau ripped the pillow from under his head and proceeded to cover his face with it. _Having red on black eyes is not all it made out to be. _The Cajun thought to himself when he heard the bedroom door creak open. He felt very alert all of the sudden as a wave of panic washed over him. It scared him. It wasn't his normal reaction to an intruder at all. Yet he felt a sense of dread. It was like some deep, hidden memory was trying to resurface. Before it was able to, someone had ripped the pillow off of his face.

"What you hidin' from under there mate?" Pyro asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"What da hell you be doin' in my room!" Remy shot back grabbing the pillow.

"Just wanted to check in on our pal. Make sure you're still alive." It wasn't until John had said "our" that Remy realized Piotr was standing in the door.

"Course Remy alive, why wouldn..." he didn't finish as the memory hit him like a ton of bricks "de accident..." he said as his eyes went wide. Crouching over Remy's covered legs Pyro turned his head.

"Don't you remember?" Remy looked at him like he was lost and John shot a glance over at Colossus.

"Ya. Course I remember. Musta hit my head a bit harder den I thought."

"Guess so" the words had barely been formed when Gambit shot out of the bed.

"I need to find out how Rogue is." He began running around the room trying to pull on clothes. He stopped in front of a mirror and tried to fix his hair. Pyro chuckled at the man's antics.

"Whache. Whache." he sounded while making a "whipping" motion causing a low chuckle to escape the large Russian as well. Heading out the door Remy suddenly stopped in mid-motion.

"Damn it!" he yelled slamming the door and making his way back into the room.

"What's a matter there mate?" he asked the Cajun who flopped back down onto his bed.

"I don know where the belle femme live." he said with a great big frustrated sigh and then threw his hands over his eyes.

"No. Don't suppose you do mate" Pyro added as he met with Piotr's knowing eyes.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

…RING…

"Would somebody..."

"Gotit!" Pietro called yanking the phone off the hook. "Hello?"

"Hey Pietro it's Kitty I..."

"How'sRogue?"

"Well, that's, like, what I was calling to tell you, it's, like, the weirdest thing, she's totally fine."

"Fine?" he asked more than a little confused.

"Ya. She woke up and she, like, doesn't have a scratch on her!"

"Iwannaseeher."

"Well, like, okay. But I mean, I don't know if everyone will like it."

"Idon'tcare."

"Well, okay. Come to the back door and I'll let you in then." She waited for him to reply but heard nothing. "Pietro..." Then there was a soft knock at the back door. "Whoa that was, like, totally fast." she said opening the door. He smiled at the girl and she blushed just a little. "Okay, just try and stay quiet." He nodded as she began leading him up to the room. It felt like it had taken forever by the time they got up to the girl's wing. "Alright it's the third door on the left." she said turning to face him.

"You're not coming?" He seemed surprised.

"Nah. I'm gonna give you two some alone time." she said with a giggle. Pietro's jaw dropped slightly but he recovered quickly and replaced the look with a smile.

"Thanks." She smiled back at him and then left. He hesitantly made his way down to the Goth's room and knocked on the door.

"Kurt, really, AH'M FAHNE! Ya don' have ta keep checkin' in on meh every minute!" Rogue continued to read her book when the door slowly creaked open.

"Uh...hi Rogue."

"Pietro!" the girl exclaimed happily as she jumped out of bed and ran to give the silver haired boy a hug. Even though Rogue's outward appearance was back to normal she was still weak and fell right into Pietro's waiting arms. Her breath hitched in her throat as she looked up to meet his gaze. "Ummm..hi." she said sheepishly then lowered her face to hide the reddening of her cheeks. Next thing she knew she was swept off her feet and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her to carry her bridal style. Neither one spoke as Pietro brought her back over to her bed and sat her down. "Thanks."

"Not a problem."

"And thank ya for bringin' meh here the other night. Kitty told meh it was ya."

"You had me sort of worried there." he added turning to look at her. "So, how do you feel?"

"Pretty good all thangs considered. Logan let meh absorb him."

"Sorta figured that."

"Ummm..Pietro?" the girl asked while staring at her black painted nails.

"Ya."

"Do ya know if Remy's okay?" He could tell she was a bit reluctant to ask him and it made him feel bad. So rather than spit out the first thing that came to his mind like _whothehellcares?_he just tried to be honest with her.

"He was a little banged up, but other then that, he seemed fine. To be honest I was too worried about you to notice."

"Oh." Was her soft reply when a loud BAMF followed by a cloud of blue and pink appeared in front of them. After the smoke disappeared the young, blue, mutant known as Nightcrawler appeared.

"Vhat are you doing in mein schester's vroom!"

"Don't ya ever KNOCK?" she yelled back. Rogue turned to apologize to Pietro only to find that the speedy mutant had already gone.

TBC>


	15. SlowMo15

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 15

It was a few days after the incident that Professor Xavier, Hank and an overly protective Logan decided it would be alright for Rogue to return to school. To everyone's amazement, rather than dreading it, she seemed to be happy about going back. Although no one would say it to her face. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" Hank had said with a grin. The Goth now had a new outlook on life thanks to her near death experience and she was going to enjoy everyday for what it was. Starting today.

When Rogue awoke she grabbed the outfit she had picked out the night before. Replacing the black fishnet stockings and black leather skirt with a black pair of pants that tied up at the sides of her thighs with lace. Instead of the green top and sheer material she normally sported she opted for a light purple long sleeved shirt that was flared at the wrists and had a low v-neck. Then grabbing a few bobby pins and an elastic she quickly decided to do something new with her hair as well and put it into a bun, leaving only the white streaks of her hair down to elegantly frame her face. Then without even a glance towards her makeup she headed downstairs for breakfast.

The kitchen was buzzing with everyday activity. Kitty and Amara sat discussing the latest gossip over fruit salads. Jean and Scott were busy trying to not look interested in one another and failing miserably. Kurt and Evan looked like poster children for a "Lego my Eggo" advertisement as they fought over the last waffle. Ororo Munroe was fixing up omelettes no doubt for Hank who was hanging over the oven in eager anticipation. Lastly there was Logan who looked unimpressed as usual drinking his sugar with coffee. _Well that's what it is!_ Rogue thought with a giggle. It was then that Jean picked up on her arrival. Looking her over she grew annoyed. "Rogue, you need to get ready. We need to leave soon!" Everyone else turned to look at her.

"Ah am ready." she replied.

"Mein schester!" Kurt exclaimed quickly bamfing over to her and engulfing her in a giant hug.

"Nice ta see ya too fur ball." she said ruffling his hair.

"Wow Rogue! You look so totally great!"

"Totally."

"There's a rip in the side of your pants." Logan pointed out which caused Rogue and Kitty to both laugh. "What?" the gruff and confused X-Man asked.

"I believe, my friend, that that is how the pants are made. A new trend with the young people I believe." Hank said swooping down and grabbing the omelette Storm had just finished making. "I am much obliged my lady." Ororo smiled.

"You will be making them tomorrow Hank."

"Drat."

"You mean the pants are MADE like that?" More giggles.

"Alright troops - let's head out. Who's riding with who?" Scott asked.

"Oh, like, Lance is coming to pick me up and I'm sure all the guys will be happy to see Rogue. So we won't need a ride."

"Okayyyy...well I guess we'll only be needing one car then. That is, if that's what you want." It took a second for the Goth to realize he was waiting for her reply.

"Oh, it's alraght Scott, Ah think Ah'll go with Kitty."

"Suit yourself." Jean said grabbing Scott's arm and leading him out of the kitchen. Evan and Kurt weren't far behind. Glancing back to take another glance of the "new" Rogue Evan tugged at Kurt's sleeve.

"Too bad she's your sister eh?" he asked with a wink.

"Evan, sometimes you are very veird...and perverted!" he said bamfing ahead. The Brotherhood jeep could be heard making it's way to the mansion as Rogue and Kitty started to leave.

"Stripes" Logan called from his spot in the kitchen. "Catch!" The girl turned around as an apple flew at her head. "Don't think I'll let you get away with not eating Skinny Magoo." Rogue caught the fruit then looked down at her figure.

"I am not skinny!" she retorted.

"Right. And there aren't holes in your pants!"

"Like, hi Lance."

"Hey there Kitty Kat. How's it goin?" He asked, picking up the petite X-Man and holding her in his arms; this caused the girl to go into hysterical fits of laughter.

"Like, good. Hey, do you, like, mind giving Rogue a ride too?"

"Not at all. Hey Rogue!" he called then gently placed Kitty on the ground to wave. She smiled and waved back. "It umm...might be a tight fit though." The three of them turned to see Fred sitting in the back with Todd who was squished to the side. Pietro was sitting in the only seat up front.

"Umm... Ah don't think Ah'm gonna fit Kitty." Rogue said looking at the extremely limited amount of space. _Skinny Magoo mah ass! Ah can't fit in there!_

"Hmm..." Lance tried to think of something.

"NoworriesIgotyacovered." Pietro said now standing beside the former Goth. Rogue was surprised to find herself once again being lifted up and into his arms. "AllaboardthePietroexpress." he said flashing her a grin. The other Brotherhood boys just rolled their eyes as Kitty gushed over the romantic moment. Before they knew it the two were gone.

"They'd make such a totally cute couple." the young girl sighed.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Hereweare." the speedster announced as he came to a sudden halt.

"Wow. Where were ya when Ah got all those detentions for bein' late?" she asked slapping him lightly on the arm.

"Probably fighting of an admirer or two." he said with an air of arrogance and a smirk.

"Ya Ah'll bet." she said rolling her eyes. "Umm...Pietro?"

"Yes?"

"Ya can put me down now."

"Maybe I don't want to." he replied and the gap between the two became smaller. Despite the many ideas running rampant through both of their minds Pietro allowed the girl to slip out from his arms.

"Thanks Speedy." she said grabbing him by the elbow and placing a light kiss on his cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked. "NotthatI'mcomplainingoranything."

"Oh, ya know, because Ah CAN." She had said it playfully enough but Pietro could tell what he had said had hurt her. But now, with her being able to joke about it, he felt he needed to try and explain to her why he had said it. Maybe even tell her what he had really wanted to say in the first place.

"Roguey I..."

"Chere!"

"Remy!" she had turned to see the charmer standing under the tree they had played in and went running towards him. Leaving Pietro in mid-sentence behind to watch. _OhIREALLYhatehim!_ The boy fumed as he watched the two embrace and Gambit give Rogue a bouquet of flowers. _Hegotherflowers!_ Rogue's face lit up as she brought them up to her nose. _Hmph_ thought the speedster as he turned in the opposite direction and sped off.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Thank ya Remy! Ah'm so glad ya are okay."

"Remy fine now chere. Now that he knows you be alright." She blushed under his intent gaze.

"Ya well, Ah got Speedy ta thank fer that." she said with a smile and turned to wave him over only to realize he was no longer there. _Oh._

"Rogue. Remy sorry. He don' know what happened. I jus' lost control all of a sudden. Never done not'in' like it before."

"Shhh...Remy. It ain't ya fault. And Ah don't blame ya one bit ya hear meh? Up until that point, that had been the most wonderful night of mah lahfe."

"So, you wouldn' mind if Remy asked you on another date den?" The girl leaned into him placing her hands on his chest while standing on her tiptoes.

"Only if Remy promises Rogue he'll stop talkin' in third person." The Cajun stood there as if considering it; looking up and scratching his chin. "Hey!"

"Okay! Okay!" he said raising his hands in mock defeat. "But I'll have you know, some people find it a turn on." he said wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Ya raght!" she said leading them towards the school.

"Seriously!" The two laughed. "So, can I pick you up after school?"

"Ya. Ah'd lahke that." she said smiling. Transferring the flowers under one arm the girl kissed her fingertips and then brought her hand to his chest and placed it over his heart. "See ya then." she said with a wink. Remy couldn't help but notice the attention she was getting from some of the boys hanging by the doors when she made her way into the building.

"Damn. I'd like to tap that!" one of the boys exclaimed after she was out of sight.

"Ya. Now that she don't look like such a freak." another added. The mutant's eyes blazed as he walked up to the kid. He stood over him until he got his attention then lifted him by the collar of his shirt.

"Who you callin' freak?" he spat. The other boy shot up and shoved Remy away so that he dropped his friend.

"It ain't really none of your business, now is it?"

"That chere IS my business." he hissed.

"Oh don't be jealous. We just wannahave some fun withher. You can have her back afterwards." and before the boy could even breathe Remy had delivered an uppercut to his jaw.

TBC>


	16. SlowMo16

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 16

Walking down the hallway, Rogue held the bouquet of flowers she had gotten from Remy up by her face. She was so lost in her thoughts and the wonderful feelings Remy stirred inside of her that she was blind to all of the attention she was receiving. The other students had taken notice of her change in appearance. While some were content to have the extra 'piece of eye candy' around, there were others who looked on with shock and envy. But Rogue hadn't a clue. When she made it to the corner by her locker she stopped. Hanging on the front of the locker door was a single black rose.

"Like hey Rogue!" came a perky voice from somewhere behind her.

"Hey Kitty." Kitty smiled before her she saw the flower on the locker.

"Whoa, that's kinda, like, morbid, isn't it?" Rogue laughed.

"Ah'm GOTH Kitty. Ah LAHKE morbid." she said taking the flower off her locker.

"You don't, like, look Goth to me Rogue." But the girl ignored her and handed the bubbly teen her bouquet so she could grab her books. "Wow! Who got you these!"

"Hmm?" the girl inquired absent mindedly.

"The bouquet silly! Ya know - the flowers that are still, like, breathing." Rogue had to blink.

"Oh! Remy got me these." she said taking them back. She stretched out both of her arms and looked back and forth between the black rose in her left hand and the bouquet in her right. A knowing smile grew on Kitty's face.

"But not the rose?" Rogue just kept looking at the flowers. She liked them both but for different reasons. It didn't take long for her to realize she wasn't just talking about the flowers. Screams and sobbing pulled her from her thoughts as a large crowd of people headed down the hallway. "I wonder what's going on..." Kitty started when she caught sight of Jean. "Jean! Jean!" The red headed girl saw them and made her way over. "Like, what's going on?" Jean seemed to hesitate a bit before she spoke and tried hard to fight back tears that threatened to overwhelm her.

"It's Duncan and Steven" she said before stopping to take a breath. "they've been taken to the hospital."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Duncan and Steven were said to have been beat up pretty bad but details were hard to come by. It was scary to think that something like that could happen on school property. No one had even seen the attack but students continued to be pulled from class for questioning.

"Hey, Roguey" a voice whispered from beside her.

"Hmmm?" She turned and looked at Pietro.

"I ah... noticed you got a rose today." he said it as though he was simply trying to make conversation. _'Fishin fer compliments._' Rogue thought and giggled.

"Thank ya fer the flower Petey. I know it was ya."

"Me? No!" and he began to laugh as well.

"Ah really lahked it."

"Well, I remembered you saying something about black roses being your favorite." Rogue seemed somewhat confused.

"Ah never told you that." she told him.

"No?" he said with an even bigger smile. "Lucky guess then." His eyes wandered away from her face and moved down to her clothes. "So, what's with this?" Pietro asked tugging at her shirt sleeve.

"What?" she asked as her face scrunched up in annoyance.

"Ya know, the - colors." he said while imitating her facial expression and scrunching up his face as well. He received a very weak glare from the girl.

"Ah felt Ah needed a change is all" she said waving her hand dismissively to face the front of the room again. There wasn't much going on in the classroom though. The teacher had been out in the hallway for the last seven minutes and everyone was discussing what had happened earlier.

"Why?" She hadn't expected him to question it.

"Why not?"

"Why?" he shot back. Rogue's brow furrowed.

"Why not?"

"...Why?" he asked again not willing to drop the question. Rogue grew increasingly uncomfortable as time went on and the speedster continued to stare at her.

"Ah dunno... ya know, Ah mean, Ah guess Ah'm just tryin' ta find the real meh." she said placing her head down on the desk. After a brief pause Pietro started laughing. Rogue slowly lifted her head to find out what was so funny. When she realized he was laughing at her Rogue gave him a dirty look. The boy laughed a few more times before stopping.

"And you're hiding in that purple shirt?" Rogue chose the most immature reaction possible and stuck her tongue out at him. Pietro couldn't help but start laughing again.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Rogue was just finishing up a conversation with some boys when she heard a familiar voice calling her. "RogueyRoowaitup!" Rogue rolled her eyes and continued walking as Pietro tried to get her attention."Hey," he said pulling up beside her "couldyounothearme?"

"Guess not." she answered sarcastically as she continued looking straight ahead.

"Oh come on. You're not upset about what I said earlier, are you?" When Rogue didn't answer him he chose to take it as a "yes." He moved in front of Rogue so that she had to stop. "Hey look, I just want to know what's up with you lately." Then looking directly into her eyes he added. "You've just sort of... changed." Rogue huffed at the boy and placed her hands firmly on her hips.

"Oh. Ya mean lahke how Ah'm happier now? Or how people actually talk ta meh now? Or the fact Ah have a boyfriend now?" Pietro cringed at the last comment but Rogue didn't notice and continued with her outburst. "Well excuse meh Speedy," she said poking him in the chest for emphasis "Ah didn't realize mah happiness bothered ya so much!" The girl stood there fuming and blowing white hair out of her face while the Pietro stood with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hey, if you're happy then fine!" he suddenly shot back. "But remember those people weren't your friends before. They're the same people that branded you a 'freak' because of the clothes you liked and the make-up you wore! And do you think that your new found popularity would mean a damned thing if these people knew who you really are Rogue? Do you!" He waited for a second and gave the words a chance to sink in before continuing. "You'd go right back to being the 'freak'!" Rogue looked down at the floor not wanting to deal with what he was saying. Lowering his tone of voice the boy added "Just make sure this is what you want. Don't do anything because you think it's what someone else wants." A slight breeze came through the hall as Pietro ran off but not before he told her something. "Ilikedyouthewayyouwere."

Rogue continued down the hall and towards the front entrance as she pondered what Pietro had said. _Is_ _he raght? Do Ah want this?_ She had always liked her clothing despite what others might have thought. Sure, it could be a pain in the ass being completely covered up on a hot summer's day but the style was something she would have chosen even if she wasn't untouchable. Well, untouchable to just about everyone except...

"Petite."

"Remy! Ya have ta stop sneakin' up on meh lahke that!" Rogue was shocked when she realized she was outside already. With a smile on his face Remy picked Rogue up and swung her around.

"You is tres beautiful mon chere." Rogue blushed as he gently placed her back down on her feet and wrapped his arm around her waist. As they walked Rogue was reminded of what Pietro had said to her before.

"Remy, do ya lahke meh betta this way?" Both of them stopped walking and Remy turned to look at her.

"What you mean by dat?"

"Ya know, lahke, do ya lahke meh more now that Ah'm...dressin' different and stuff?"

"Non." Remy replied without a second thought. Rogue smiled up at him happily. Remy took his fingers and ran them over her gloved hand. "Besides... Remy t'ink green more your color."

TBC>


	17. SlowMo17

Author: Roguechere (ME!)  
  
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the X-Men. (Although I wish I did cuz Marvel does sum DUMB stuff with them sometimes!)  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello All. Sorry, I know it has been a pathetically long time since I've updated. I apologize. And I realize that it can be hard to read a new chapter when you can't even remember what the general story was about. So I give you.....  
  
The Catch-Me-Up Summary!  
  
Pietro and Remy both present Rogue with flowers, bringing forth the realization that she will have to choose one or the other. And that her feelings extend to both of the guys. Outside, ambulances arrive to transport Duncan and Steve to the hospital after Remy beat them for making sexual remarks about Rogue. Pietro asks Rogue what's up with her change in appearance and tells her he liked her just the way she was. Of course, there are misunderstandings and the two argue - again. Remy tells Rogue he doesn't feel differently about her now that she's changed her look.   
  
And that's pretty much that. Now on with the story.  
  
Replay: Slow Motion  
  
Instalment 17  
  
Rogue lay snuggly against the large crab apple tree and Remy. Her head was resting on his right knee, with his arms incircling her upper body. "Sorry about de hike dere, but de bike, it be needin some repairs."   
  
"Ah don't mind." The X-Girl said, gazing out over the city of Bayville. It was here that she often came to sit when she needed some time to think, or be alone. But not today. She had wanted to share this place with him. With Remy Lebeau. And as the two sat there, she never wanted to come to this spot alone again. Here in his arms, it just felt, right.   
  
"Beautiful view." He commented.  
  
"Ya, you can see almost everything from up here."  
  
"I wasn't talking about that view chere." His breath was warm against her cheek as he leaned into her. Too scared to turn and look at him, in fear that she might touch him, she continued to lay there as Remy ran his fingers through her hair, and leaned back against the tree. It was such an odd and wonderful feeling . Because of her mutation, she had always made sure to keep her distance from others. Afraid that they might touch her skin. But it never even occured to her that something so simple could feel so wonderful. There were ways she could be touched. Even the heat from Remy's gloved hand squeezing hers, managed to make fireworks go off inside her. This is what she had been missing out on, she thought and let out a sigh. But never again. If she could help it, everyday would be like this.   
  
"And why can't it?" She thought. Although, unbeknowest to her, she had said the words out loud.   
  
"What's dat petite?" He asked, as he stopped the soothing movement of running his fingers through her locks, she took the opportunity to turn and face him.   
  
" Ah was thinkin, Ah lahke this." Rogue placed her hands on Remy's shoulders to pull herself up into a sitting position, facing him. But Remy took hold of her waist and lifted her into his lap. Their faces inches apart.  
  
"I like it too." His husky voice replied. Her previous train of thought was momentarily forgotten as she became lost in the man's shiny red orbs. One of his hands left the side of her waist and she could feel Remy reach into his pocket. The motion caused her to giggle.A smirk appeared on Remy's face.   
  
"What are ya doin swamp rat?" She asked, curious.   
  
"Wouldn' you like ta know." He said, leaning forward. Several emotions washed over the young girl. Want, fear, desire, anger. How could he do this to her? Didn't he realize it tore her up inside to not be able to do the things she wanted to. And knowing that when and if she did, it would hurt him. But before she could voice an objection, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It appeared to be blue. Next thing she knew, the object was hovering over her eyes. "Close yer eyes chere." He whispered. She was somewhat reluctant, not knowing exactly what he was going to do. But the twinkle in his eye for once was not mischievious so she did ask he requested. It took a few moments for anything to happen, when Rogue felt something light on her lips, that covered the bottom part og her face as well. Her forehead creased as she tried to figure out what it was, when pressure was put down over it and her lips. Something warm. Her eyes darted open, to Remy's closed eyes, his face over hers. Rogue was filled with happiness and excitement, and Remy could feel her smiling through the fabric. He stopped so that he could gaze into her eyes, and saw the curiousity there. So he lifted the material so that she could she see it, but she did not even look. She grabbed the back of his head with her hands and crushed their lips together with the thin veil between them.This time it was Remy's turn to smile.   
  
"Remy, Ah want ya ta stay with me." She said, her voice serious.  
  
"What makes you tink' you could get rid of me?" He asked, placing another kiss on her.  
  
"Ah mean, why don't you come live with us, at the institute?"  
  
"Institute?" Remy was somewhat shocked. He actually had no idea where it was that Rogue lived. And now she was telling him it was with other people, at an, asylum as far as he could tell. Rogue couldn't really read the expression on his face and didn't understand the cause of it.  
  
"Ya," but Rogue was suddenly cut off when the Professor's voice could be heard in her head. ~Rogue, please forgive the intrusion, but we have a situation and you are needed right away.~ Rogue quickly shook any remaining essence of the telepathic connection from her mind. She thought her suddenly spacing out might have caused Remy some alarm, but he wasn't even looking at her anymore. He only turned to look when she got up from her position.Quickly running her hands over her clothes, she tried to think of something to say."Um, it's gettin kinda late. Ah should really get goin'."   
  
"Alright petite." He said, jumping to his feet. "You gonna be okay gettin' yourself home? I have some t'ings to take care of." She just nodded her head in response, gave him one of her rare and dazzling smiles, then quickly made her way down hill. Remy watched her until he could no longer see her before quickly returning his attention to watch what he had been looking at before. A small park on the Eastern side of Bayville, slowly being overcome by flames.   
  
"That be Remy's cue." He said. His trench coat flapping behind him as he made his way towards the fire.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Rogue had gotten the details of the situation on the way over to the scene. She had had to change into her uniform on the X-Jet because everyone else had been at the mansion and were ready to go. Apparently, Magneto and his three lackeys were causing havok in a local park. Particularly, the one who could manipulate fire. Storm had flown ahead with young Bobby Drake to see if they couldn't stop the fire from spreading further.   
  
When the park was in sight, most of the flames had been put out. Tree tops were covered in snow, a bench and some small plants had been frozen. But Bobby and Storm were nowhere to be seen. The Jet landed in a clear and open part of the park as the team quickly emerged from it, Iceman's un-concious form was spotted by Kitty. With a quick glance to Kurt, he vanished in a puff of smoke to appear by their wounded team mates side. Lifting the boy into his arms, he teleported back into the jet and once he was secured, Nightcrawler rejoined the team. "Alright." Cyclops started, addressing them all. "Our first priorities are to find Storm and take out Pyro who seems to be the main threat at the moment." Then, taking a few seconds to look at as many of the X-Men in the face as he felt necessary to get his point across he added. "Now, we know the other's are here as well so I want everyone to ALWAYS be in a group of at least two people. Got it?" Everyone nodded and agreed except for Logan who had already gone off on his own.   
  
Deciding it was a good idea to follow Logan's lead,Rogue, Kitty and Nightcrawler moved forward towards the center of the park, while the others fanned out to the sides. Keeping their eyes peeled the three of them jumped when a growl could be heard followed by the sound of thunder up ahead. They quickly broke into a sprint, trying to locate exactly where the noises had come from when a bolt of lightning made it's way down from the sky. Kurt hugged the girls to his sides and teleported over to the fight. And from what the three saw, it wasn't a fair one either. Sabretooth and Pyro were both ganging up on Ororo. The smell of brimstone in the air alerted Sabretooth to their presence. The element of surprise gone, Rogue decided to step in before things got worse. "What's the matter, you boys ain't neva heard of a fair fight?!" The blond haired boy turned, a smile plastered on his face so wide, it must have hurt.   
  
"A fight with Pyro ain't never gonna be fair love." And with a wink, he let his powers lose. Kurt and Kitty moving one way and closer to Storm, while Rogue rolled the opposite way, on the side of the flames with Sabretooth and Pyro. 'Oh crap.' She thought as the larger mutant looked ready to pounce. Suddenly he stopped, his nostrils flaring as he began sniffing the air. A smile appeared on Rogue's face as she quickly realized what that meant.   
  
"Right on time." She said, as Wolverine leapt over the wall of flames and tackled the hairy mutant to the ground. Pyro's head snapped to the side as he saw this.  
  
"Looks like it's just you an me now." The pyromaniac said, putting an end to the wall of flames just in time to show Kurt teleport Kitty and Storm away.  
  
"Don't flatter yerself." Rogue stated, before charging the boy. He threw a ball of fire at her, but Rogue managed to dodge it just in time before bringing Pyro down to the ground.   
  
"Shoulda known you were the kind of gal to like it rough." Rogue's eyes shot daggers at the boy as she straddled him and pulled off a glove. John, suddenly becoming very nervous attempted to hide it with a joke. "Got you taking off your clothes already...e he." And began to laugh nervously. Rogue just shook her head and then placed her hand on his face.  
  
"Nighty, night." Pyro's memories and powers began to flow through her and when she felt him pass out she stopped the contact. She had seen what he had seen. Saw the faces of people he knew. But there was only one that caught her attention. "No." she thought, as she leaped off of Pyro. She could hear people running towards her and felt a hand on her shoulder.   
  
"You okay?" Cyclops asked, but she didn't have an answer. The entire team was assembled behind her with the exception of Storm, Bobby, Jean and the professor. Two metal orbs hovered behind them before landing on the ground. The first one opened, to reveal Magneto, the second, Remy. It was undeniably him, but he somehow seemed very different to her all of a sudden. He still had on his brown trenchcoat, but underneath he wore body armor that covered his entire chest and held a long wooden staff in his left hand. He also wore the gloves he had caressed her skin with.   
  
"Allow me to introduce you to the newest addition." Magneto began as Remy pulled a deck of cards out from his coat pocket.The team seemed stunned and Rogue was hidden behind the rest of the team.   
  
"De name's Gambit. Remember it." He stated taking the card on top of the pile and charging it. His hand snapped back to toss the card when Rogue yelled for everyone to get down and pushed Scott to the ground as the card whizzed over them.   
  
"You missed them. " Magneto hissed out as Remy spotted Rogue.  
  
"Rogue?" He mouthed, both surprised and confused to see her there.   
  
"Finish what you started Gambit." Erik commanded from beside him. But Remy couldn't take his eyes away from Rogue's. There was something there. Something he saw in them that clutched at his very soul. But his attention was quickly turned to Cyclops who had propped himself up and had his hand up by the side of his visor. Forseeing the attack Remy began to charge another card and was about to throw it at the X-Man when he was thrown off of his feet.   
  
The next thing the cajun knew, he was looking up at the treetops. And he could hear the master of magnetism growl out the name 'Pietro' before all hell broke loose.   
  
TBC 


	18. SlowMo18

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 18

Things had escalated very quickly from there.

Rogue staggered slightly, trying to catch her breath as she moved into another fighting stance. 'I don't have time for this right now' she thought as she fought the now conscious Pyro who was once again grinning like a maniac.

"Hands off mon ami" came the familiar Cajun accent followed by a small explosion at the pyromaniac's feet.

"Remy?"

"Chere, we need to talk."

"Now?" she asked him, indicating the ongoing battle that surrounded them.

"Now." he told her, leading her by the hand. Rogue suddenly felt very uncomfortable and wasn't sure if she should be trying to get away from him or not. Her heart was telling her that he was still the same person and she didn't think he would try to hurt her but he was the enemy and she couldn't just abandon her friends. The need for answers from Remy was overwhelming though so she reluctantly allowed him to pull her away.

He continued to walk further and further away when Rogue refused to move a step further.

"What does he have on ya Remy?" she asked him placing her hands on her hips.

"Notin'." He told her honestly, only then realizing it was not the answer she had wanted to hear.

"So what then?"

"Chere, I didn't know I'd be fighting other mutants." Remy ran his hands through his auburn locks. "I didn't know I'd be fighting you" his eyes were asking her to understand and he assumed that she would.

"What did you think ya'd be doing?" He wasn't making any sense at all. Wasn't it obvious that Magneto was a power hungry psycho? Was Remy blatantly lying to her?

"What else?" he replied, bitterly. Anger flashed on his face making him seem like a completely different person to Rogue. When he saw the concern and hurt on her face he turned away from her.

"Some of them may be ignorant Cajun and ya it ain't easy but we have to be better than that." Rogue moved towards him and turned him around to face her, placing her hands in his, looking up at him. "You hate other people so much that you would follow a mad man?"

"No Rogue, Remy not gonna be a part of that man's plans no more." he squeezed her gloved hands in his and leaned his forehead against her hairline. Rogue stood like that with him for a few moments before asking him another question.

"Will ya come back to the institute with me and the X-Men?" he caught the hopeful tinge in her tone and actually found himself considering it.

"I'd always come back to you petite, but I ain't no X-man." the tender moment had been shattered because Remy had made his choice and in turn, made Rogue's. Well there was that and the scream of pain that had erupted through out the park at that very moment.

"Pietro?" Rogue's eyes went wide as she dropped Remy's hands and went running back to where the fight was taking place. When she arrived she caught sight of what had caused the silver haired mutant to cry out. At first glance, it appeared as though Pietro's body had been frozen in place, only his entire body was convulsing. Upon closer inspection though she had picked up on Magneto standing a few feet away with his hand outstretched toward his son.

"Let him go ya crazy yahoo!" Rogue said moving towards the man with a sense of urgency.

"This is what it means to turn your back on me!" He said closing his hand to make a fist. Quicksilver's eyes began rolling into the back of his head. Magneto's full attention was on his son and it did not appear that anything anyone said would be able to stop him. Perhaps though, there was something someone could do.

She knew how this would have to go down. That didn't mean she had to like it. Rogue had absorbed the self proclaimed 'Master of Magnetism' before and it hadn't been pretty. The mutant was full of a hate and rage that was easy for all to see but Rogue had also seen into the pain and misery that consumed him. She didn't just see it either, she felt it. The young girl didn't have time to dwell on any of that though. Pietro looked like he was losing conciousness and his father was showing no signs of stopping.

Rogue thought Magneto was solely focused on his son so she didn't bother with trying to hide her intentions. Besides, she needed to act fast. The others were too shocked and disoriented to try and jump in to save someone they thought of as the enemy. Storm would have jumped in without hesitation but she was still in the jet. Logan always enjoyed a good scrap and didn't need much of a reason to fight but he was also painfully aware of what Magneto could do to him if he tried to interfere.

When Rogue leaped into action, however, she quickly realized just how reckless she had been as Magneto dropped Pietro to the ground and quickly turned to use his powers on her. She was gasping for air in a matter of seconds and she thought her eyes might pop out of their sockets.

She could hear Wolverine snarl and then pop his claws but she knew just as well as he did that the attempt would be futile. Magneto simply looked at the short man, before hurtling his body into the rest of the X-men.

"Seems there are three men willing to act foolishly when you're involved my dear" he directed the statement towards Rogue while looking at the destruction he had been responsible for. "Really, I'm doing them a favor." His words bounced around in her head while black spots danced in front of her eyes. And as Rogue clung to conciousness, at the back of her mind she wondered if the mad man was right.

TBC>


	19. SlowMo19

Replay: Slow Motion

Installment 19

Tears had formed in Rogue's eyes as she felt the Master of Magnetism's power full force.

"Rogue" Pietro called out weakly from his spot on the ground, grabbing his father's attention once again. With his other hand Magneto targeted his son.

"Look like you don' have no mo' hands to use" a voice said from behind Magneto before unleashing an onslaught of charged cards upon him. The attack knocked Magneto down to the ground and he was forced to release the two mutants.

"What do you think you are doing!" the man asked furiously from his spot on the ground.

"Savin' de damsels in distress of course" he made sure to emphasize the plural part of damsels. "Chere you alright?" Gambit asked but did not take his eyes off Magneto.

"Ya, I'll live" she said from her newfound spot on the ground while trying to catch her breath.

"Not for long…" but before he could act on his threat, Magneto was hit full force by his son. "You ungrateful, insufferable…" Quicksilver slammed him into the closest tree he could find before pummeling his face with quick fists. The boy was consumed with rage as his father attempted to speak between blows.

"Ah don't think ya should be tryin' ta make him angry right now." Rogue's voice pulled Pietro away from his homicidal thoughts. He moved back and looked at his father.

"Beggin' might be a better idea, non?"

"You look pathetic" the white haired boy scoffed. Magneto's eyes burned with silent rage as he looked up at the three younger mutants.

"We'll take it from here kid." Wolverine said as Scott came forward.

"I am not going anywhere with you."

"Guess again" Remy said as he hit Magneto with his staff, knocking him unconscious.

"Nice work." Logan stated.

"I do what I can homme."

"What did you just call me?"

"Umm…"

"Remy can Ah talk to ya over here for a second?" Rogue asked while pulling him away from Logan's murderous gaze. He shrugged apologetically towards the short and gruff man before following Rogue to another part of the park.

"Thanks for de save" Remy said as Rogue continued to drag him further away from the others but still hadn't stopped to look at him.

"Figure Ah owe ya" she replied letting go of him but still not turning around.

"…Chere"

"This day didn't exactly work out the way Ah had hoped." Rogue said before turning to look at him.

"Know what you mean." Remy replied as he tried to read her expression.

"Ah don't hate them Remy." she told him. "Ah can't." She could see the hurt and anger bleeding through his gaze. "Because, Ah was just like them before Ah met you." Remy's expression became one of confusion. Rogue took his hands into her gloved ones before she tried to explain. "Ah hated the idea of love. People would always talk about it and flaunt it in my face. Ah didn't understand it. Ah couldn't understand it. Ah didn't think Ah could be loved without bein' able ta touch anyone. So whenever someone tried to get close, Ah pushed them away. Even managed to convince myself that Ah hated them sometimes. Ah was so afraid Remy and Ah just didn't know any better. And that's all they are, they're just afraid." Tears started to form in her eyes as she launched herself into Remy's form and embraced him. It only took a moment for him to return the gesture.

"You have a big heart chere," he told her as he placed a kiss on the top of her head "much bigger dan Remy's…"he paused, knowing that what he would say next would be very hard. "Chere, Remy cares about you very much" he told her honestly, making sure to make eye contact with the southern belle "but he can't change de way he feels about you anymore den he can 'bout dem."

"Ah guess…Ah guess Ah can't change your mind." she replied sadly, looking down as he held her hand in his.

"No more den Remy can change yours." he said wiping the tears from under her eyes.

"We're both so stubborn," she whispered and Remy simply held her tighter.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Pietro had gone looking for Rogue once Kitty had informed him that she had not returned to the mansion with the rest. He did not really know where to look and had resorted to zooming across the city and back. He had just about given up when he saw a lone figure sitting atop a high hill. He knew he had found her and went speeding up there. When he arrived, she was sitting cross-legged gazing out over the city.

"Rogue?"

"Hey Petey." Rogue turned to acknowledge him before turning back around.

"Are you okay?"

"Ah think Ah should be asking ya that."

"Well my father just tried to kill me, so, I'm thinking it's Friday." The joke did not receive any response from Rogue much to Pietro's disappointment.

"What are you doing up here?"

"Contemplating how much life sucks."

"In that case, mind if I join you?" he asked and waited for her reply.

"Why not? They say misery loves company." He walked over and sat down beside her.

"Remy left." he knew by the way she said it that she was not talking about a run to the corner store.

"He's an idiot." he told her.

"It was a mutual kind of thing Petey." she said quickly to his defense. He knew he should be happy. He knew he should be jumping for joy and singing at the top of his lungs. However, seeing the look of loss that shone through her deep emerald eyes stopped him from doing any of that.

"He's still an idiot." he said as he looked at her and she looked at him. "Rogue, I don't know if this is the best time or the worst time but, I wanted to let you know, that erm…wow this is hard."

"This has got ta be tha first tahme Ah've seen ya tongue-tied." she had with just a hint of playfulness in her words. Pietro who was feely slightly flustered decided to just go ahead and tell her.

"OkaywellIknowI'vebeenkindofajerklately,wellyouthinkI'vebeenbeingajerk,butthetruthisthatwell,Iwasn'ttryingtobeajerk,I'vebeentryingtoshowyouthatyourpowersdon'tworkonmeandsoIkissed youbuthatstupidcajunshowedupandyoustarteddatingsoIcouldn'ttellyouthatIlikeyouandthinkyou'regreatandeverything…" Pietro finally managed to bring himself to look up at Rogue and realized that he had been talking too fast. "Crap." he said and his shoulders slumped.

"Pietro are ya tryin' ta say ya lahke meh?"

"Yeah" he replied unsure of how she would take it.

"Ah lahke ya too sugah.." the words brought an instant smile to Pietro's face who was about to say something when Rogue spoke again "but Ah'll need some time. Maybe we could take things slow?" Slow. The mutant known as Quicksilver never took anything slow. Rogue briefly thought about the absurdity of it all. He did everything fast and he was the one person she could actually touch. Why take it slow? Rogue suddenly felt very awkward.

"Anything for you Rogue" he told her with a smile and held her hand in his.

As they sat on the hill Pietro could not help but feel like they were sitting on top of the world.

END.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks everyone for your continued support. Hope you enjoyed. 


End file.
